


I Call Your Name

by JaxxCapta



Series: Feast/Famine [1]
Category: FTL: Faster Than Light (Video Game)
Genre: Complete, Deaf Character, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Major Character Injury, Nonbinary Lanius, Other, Possible Character Death, Really Short Chapters, Weird Biology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-25 23:34:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 24,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7551469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaxxCapta/pseuds/JaxxCapta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a time for love. A suicide mission is not that time, but that does not stop everyone. It certainly does not stop Kusy and Atryom, the two lone crew of a ship tasked with a mission that places them in constant danger. They know the risks. They can only do so much. (Based on a playthrough of the game.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dark Skies

They spent far too long at that beacon, curled up next to each other as they watched the nebula dust swirl by. Kusy's head tucked against Atryom's shoulder, both enjoying the sensation of each other's presence.

The ship creaked and rumbled, only subtle sensations without an atmosphere to carry sound in. They still jumped and froze when there were sudden changes, but no other ship had passed by yet. It was only them and the ship. For now. In times like these, "for now" peace would be enough.

Atryom signed into Kusy's palm, the smooth movements flowing into a lament of time spent apart. How the death of the human pilot they had hired, Thomas, and Kusy's subsequent move from the engines to the cockpit had made Atryom long for the closeness of working next to each other.

Kusy didn't answer. Atryom pulled them closer, the decorative spikes on the gunner's limbs and shoulders flaring.

Both needed to make up for lost time.


	2. Let It Die

Kusy never fixed the oxygen circulator. It was pointless without Thomas, and neither Lanius wanted to hire another air-breather. Thomas had died because he was unable to escape into one of the airless rooms beside him. What was the point of gathering friendly beings into a death trap?

Both Kusy and Atryom kept careful maintenance of the clone bay, however. It would never fail again, not on their watch.

But when they came across a merchant selling a Backup Bank, Atryom was hauling scrap out of storage to pay for it before Kusy even knew what had been bought. It was impossible to stay upset after Atryom explained that they did not want to risk Kusy's life should something happen to the clone bay.

Kusy accepted Atryom's reassuring hug, but deep down, they swore to never need the clone bay. The machine could twist the metal, but what of the self and mind?


	3. I Could Not Let Go

Kusy keened into the bomb-ravaged floor, the barely loud enough to reach through the ship. But they didn't know that. They could only hope that Atryom would find them in time. Their vision flickered, mind fluttered, they had to fight to keep intact. One leg broken off at the first knee joint, now across the room. The other ravaged to the point of uselessness. Carefully curved fingers now warped and mangled. They had shielded their head at the cost of the integrity of their chest, shoulders, and upper arms.

They felt oxygen-dizzy. Two fingers detached, three on the other hand felt loose. But what were fingers when their stomach felt ready to fall apart, spill corrosive acid everywhere? That, they fought to hold in. Physical changes could be undone. Not chemical ones.

Desperate arms scooped them up. Those barely-there fingers went, a surge of pain exploded in Kusy's torso as the relief of _Atryom's here!_ distracted them from willing themself together.

Oh. Atryom was hurt, too. So many spikes, broken off. Cuts and dents littered their limbs. Had the weapons system been hit? Kusy's thumb brushed up Atryom's arm, categorizing the injuries.

They shuddered and curled inwards at another burst of pain. They made a sharp distress cry, the sort meant to travel the lonely reaches of deep space. Atryom took the brunt of it and rocked them, back and forth, back and forth.

Atryom was quick to recover Kusy's leg, leaving their partner for as little time as possible.

Kusy lie limp as Atryom worked. It was necessary, even if Kusy had not been taxed enough already. The gunner worked off of instinct now, twisting and shaping and gently biting down on broken areas to let tuhar, the same substance used in initial construction, meld broken-off pieces back on.

With every fixed piece Kusy could think more, focus less. Think about things like how good Atryom was at this. What were they expecting? Atryom had plenty of practice, a body that clearly was lenient enough to permit such additions as they had.

Kusy blacked out a couple times. Maybe more than a couple. They did remember waking up to Atryom putting their hand back together. They gave the gunner's hand a gentle squeeze once every finger was back on. _Reassurance,_ they told themself. For whom... that was less clear.

After Kusy fell asleep again, Atryom slowly got up and removed them. They couldn't stay at this beacon much longer. The scrap recovery arm had done as much as it could, and the Rebels were gaining on them. Thankfully, pilots did not fly the jumps themselves, just confirmed them for the ship's AI.

Atryom let the AI do its job and returned to Kusy's side.


	4. Plans to Make You Whole

Scrap did funny things to a Lanius's mind. Both of the crew were more savers than spenders; even Atryom's impulse purchases were limited. Kusy kept careful tally of each and every piece of scrap recovered, and though their piloting skills were limited, they often ended up flying into risky situations to gather more.

Soon they had gathered a modest collection of scrap. Soon they started visiting it. Kusy walked the perimeter of the room they had designated as storage space, occasionally moving a few things around. Atryom dug in to find the choice pieces.

Once, Kusy caught Atryom nibbling at some metal, testing its fit spiraling along the outside of their arm. That stopped fast. Kusy chased Atryom out and cornered them at one of the edges of the ship. They made up later with lots of apologies, especially from Kusy, but there was a long awkward stretch in between.

It was after the Mantis hunters that both met in the storage room again. Atryom sat in front of the growing pile, turning over a piece of circuitry that looked ripe with gold. Kusy sat beside them, nudging their upper arm until Atryom opened up and let Kusy rest their head against the gunner's chest.

Atryom, warm with tumultuous emotions already, held Kusy's hand, rubbing still-healing joints. Then they turned Kusy's hand over and splayed it wide open, examining their own handiwork.

Kusy rumbled, a sensation that felt like the engine of the ship they had owned so long.

Atryom made the first sign.

And again.

And again.

On the fourth try they got the courage to keep going, to make their proposal. Kusy sat still. Uncomfortably still in Atryom's mind.

It was no small task that Atryom suggested. It was beyond the scope of the recent upgrades to the reactor and the shields. Beyond even the most major ship overhaul.  
Atryom asked about construction.

Kusy sunk into Atryom's embrace and responded.

No.

The answer went against the ache, the itch they felt. They felt that ache in their fingers, their head, their very core. It invaded every thought, to the point that they sometimes struggled to concentrate.

And it grew with every piece of scrap they added to the pile.

Atryom was not certain.

Kusy reaffirmed their response. It turned into a cascade, forcing it into Atryom's mind and their own.

No.

No.

No.

It did not get easier. No repetition was thoughtless. Each ripped into them, hurt like a punch to the throat.

Once the deluge had calmed down, Atryom asked why, and waited patiently for Kusy to compose their thoughts.

War was scrap-rich, yes. The war was why the Lanius had awoken from their collective slumber. They lived, thrived in a cycle of feast/famine. But this was a war against anyone who was not human. It was not like any of the air-breathers were fond of the Lanius anyhow, but these Rebels wielded systematic xenophobia like a gladiator's net. If the Rebels won, the Lanius would be lucky if they were simply chased far enough to fall into hibernation again.

Then there was the mission. A new Lanius would wreak havoc on the ship. The process of education would take up valuable time and attention. Kusy, Atryom, the ship itself were all scarred, a clear sign of the dangers that a new Lanius would only intensify.

Or suffer from.

Kusy dreaded the thought of creating a new life only for it to be lost before its first hibernation.

Both Kusy and Atryom's construction had started in the last feast cycle. Kusy's had been completed a few years before hibernation. Atryom had been completed at the beginning of this one. Kusy had seen the rough times when all the other races were aware of the Lanius's presence and worked to fight them back. Atryom's first years, in contrast, were the quiet joy of snatching up scrap at the edges of the war zone, blissful in the other races' ignorance.

Atryom did not argue or protest. They let a shaken Kusy go, and in return, Kusy did nothing when they noticed Atryom slipping the circuit into a firmer, possessive grip.  


Scrap did funny things to a Lanius's mind, but the mission held higher priority.


	5. We'll Fuse When We Collide

Step to the side, one foot back – wait, whose foot went where? Kusy peered over Atryom's shoulder to get a better look at the video on the screen.

Learning to dance had been Atryom's suggestion, but Kusy had picked the style. “Swing,” as the video title called it. They had downloaded the instructional series last time they were on a civilized planet as something to pass the time.

Kusy had to say, it was a good idea. The planet had not even had a high human population, but there were plenty of human dance videos to choose from. It would be near impossible for anything with less than six limbs to try Mantis dances, Engi did not seem to get the concept, Rocks were awfully quiet about it, Slugs relied on telepathy to coordinate in ways that led other races to smacking into each other, and Zoltan... Suffice to say, nobody dared be nearby when a Zoltan danced.

It was strange, dancing in only two dimensions, maybe a limited amount of a third when someone was lifted or dipped as the video portrayed, but they did not have the flock of ships needed to corral a Lanius dance, or even a third person to pilot the ship and chase them down if they drifted too far.

Atryom dared a dip, pressing forwards with one hand at the middle of Kusy's back. Kusy leaned too far back. They stumbled, then Atryom tripped over Kusy's foot and both fell.

The Lanius's bodies were as unyielding as the ship. Kusy hit the floor hard, pulling Atryom down on top of them. Edged plating interlocked. Atryom's hand slid into the gap between Kusy's chest plating and thin abdomen, an uncomfortable position for both of them.

It was Atryom who started laughing first. It felt like a pulse against Kusy that soon got them laughing, too. If Thomas was still around, the poor human would have panicked with what would have come over the comm feed, but there was nobody around to pick up the transmissions.

Slowly the two managed to get up again, Atryom carefully checking to ensure Kusy had not damaged a repair job.

Their next dip was more careful, but it worked. The dancing space may have been limited, but they felt as free as starless planets.


	6. Mayday, Mayday

Atryom was not supposed to be in the cockpit during a jump, let alone distracting Kusy with this _hilarious_ thought they had. The idea of shiny, sparkly Rocks made of geodes was ridiculous enough, but the primping and preening and strutting Atryom performed to add to it left Kusy unable to focus on much anything.

The thumps and rattle of scrap punching its way through the hull stopped both Lanius cold.

Atryom flew out of the room. Kusy scrambled for the controls as a laser struck at the shields. Only the Rebel ship's underside was in physical view, but a VR overlay on the windows identified the make, model, and subsequent locations of its systems. A green outline around the enemy's shielding identified the ion stunner's target. For good measure, Kusy directed a hacking module towards the shields as well.

They should have hacked the weapons.

Another battery of scrap shredded through the clone bay, the engines, the weapons systems. A transcribed message popped up on the window, a garbled mess that had to be from Atryom.

Kusy stumbled over their chair on their way to the weapons systems. They kicked it across the room. The ship's AI could handle itself for now, the engines were damaged anyways.

The hull above Kusy's head deformed with another laser shot. They ducked into the weapons systems, fighting back a distress cry.

Atryom, side and arm ripped up and scorched, was kneeling under a computer. They peered out for a moment, visibly relieved. Then it was back to work, damaged arm curled in close.

Kusy turned their attention to Atryom's injuries first. The gunner knew these systems better, just as Kusy knew the engines. Atryom's constant movement made it hard to work at first, to find the most crucial injury and bite down on a sufficient portion of it, and the panic of battle made it difficult to disengage enough for tuhar to flow.  
Atryom turned to look back at Kusy a couple times. It was clear Kusy was struggling, and Atryom had a more flexible body plan. The injuries were painful, disabling even, but it would take much more to risk a complete loss of integrity. Atryom gave Kusy a gentle headbutt and nudged them towards the engine room.

The chain burst laser came online as the sensors and doors went out. The shields flickered out with another laser shot. Atryom slammed the computer with the flat of their undamaged arm as if that would make the weapon charge faster. Damn thing and its warmup time!

Much to their amusement, the charge bar jumped up another couple percentage points.

Orange warning lights blared on and Atryom screamed their frustration loud enough for the Rebels to hear it over their comms. The surprise was enough to delay another burst of scrap just long enough for the hacking module to be activated before its controlling mechanism was destroyed.

Atryom was already in the engine room before the next attack, taking Kusy's directions. The engine required caution far greater than the weapons did. A chain laser breaking was not pretty, but a reactor failure was far uglier, and would doom the ship and its crew.

The ship shuddered again. Kusy closed panels as fast as possible, designating the last couple tasks to Atryom as they ran past.

Not long after, the engines rumbled to life. Atryom returned to the weapons only to find them broken, pieces of scrap littering the consoles. That's when they heard Kusy's call for help.

No. The thought they were hurt again was unbearable.

Injured arm wrapped across their chest, Atryom burst into the cockpit. Kusy jabbed a finger at the small data chips that held the information they had gathered on the Rebels and their flagship. They transmitted random chittering. Atryom doubted Kusy knew they were doing that. It didn't sound like Kusy's intentional transmissions.  
Atryom grabbed the data chips, holding them close. What were they supposed to do with them? They stepped closer to Kusy; maybe they ought to ask, a quick question shouldn't hurt. They reached out to Kusy, who was hunched over the ship's controls.

Kusy jumped at Atryom's touch.

A laser cut through the hull, top to bottom, where Kusy's head and upper body had been.

Atryom fumbled the data chips as Kusy fell into them. One fell to the ground, and both Lanius ducked to grab it.

The warning lights turned red. Kusy pressed the fallen chip into Atryom's hand and was repairing the console before Atryom could ask what they were supposed to do. With a hole like that, any repairs would have to be cobbled together. Only one person could fit in at once. There was no way Atryom could help.

One piece of scrap ruined the hall to the right. Atryom dove forwards, hooking their arm around Kusy's abdomen to pull them out and away from the console. Kusy fought against them, kicking at their shins.

Another laser shot hit the far right edge of the cockpit, startling both. Kusy jerked upwards, bumping the underside of Atryom's chin.

More scrap ripped through the ship, and it all fell apart.

The console, the whole wall came away. Atryom and Kusy tumbled head over heels, braced together as flecks of debris scratched and dented them.

Kusy got one last look at their ship and wailed. The ship, _their_ ship, their beloved Knapp, was in pieces. Nothing more than scrap.

Atryom found Kusy's hand with their damaged one and pleaded for them to stop, stop, _stop!_

They stopped just in time for Atryom to find a foothold against the drifting console and push off, towards the remnants of the ship. The Rebels didn't need to know they were alive. Space was survivable. Rebel custody – or even their mere attention - was not. So long as they were quiet and lucky, they might be able to fool the humans manning the ship.

Kusy calmed down after the explanation.

They steadied their course first, carefully calculating how they bounced off of things until they had settled into the center of the debris. It was a lonely place, the largest pieces of the ship out of reach, but it had enough scrap floating around to disguise two Lanius.

The Rebel ship turned, making one lazy loop around the jump beacon before disappearing in a flash of light.

Both calmed down after it was gone. Kusy wrapped their legs around Atryom's hips, anchoring them to each other. Atryom finally dared to bring their hand close and open it a tiny bit. All three chips were there.

They felt Kusy biting down on their damaged arm again, but unlike last time, Atryom also felt the cool burn as tuhar oozed into their wounds and small but tough mouthparts started putting everything back together.

Oh. Okay.

Atryom held one data chip against their shoulder and spat a bit of tuhar at the junction between them. They could do this. It was only three little chips, nothing in comparison to the other accessories they had added on, both rejected and still present.

Atryom was done long before Kusy. They reached out, took a smallish piece of scrap, one from the stockpile, and edged it into Kusy's view.

Kusy saw it and straightened up. They looked around before plucking a similar sized piece and offering it to Atryom in return.

The two ate in silence, surrounded by stars and destruction. They needed patience now.


	7. Circling Like Vultures

Neither Kusy nor Atryom could tell how much time had passed before the next ship appeared. Atryom noticed it first, a shadow where there were no stars. It was at an angle that made it difficult to identify what sort of ship it was, just an angle of black. They hugged Kusy close, waking the other Lanius up enough for them to avoid bumping into the data chips Atryom's shoulder.

Soon it loomed overhead, a gigantic monster of a ship with multiple scrap recovery arms reaching out like a Mantis's limbs. The Lanius watched as they worked, picking out smaller pieces to deposit into the belly of the ship, laser cutters breaking down the rest.

Kusy dug their fingers into Atryom's back, eyes fixed on the recovery arms. The Knapp had died once already, wasn't that enough?

Atryom turned their head to nuzzle Kusy, to try and provide some sort of comfort. But there was no distracting them from watching the carnage.

Neither noticed the scrap recovery arm until it cinched Kusy around the waist.

Atryom held on for dear life as both were pulled upwards, Kusy struggling against the machine. Signing an apology, Atryom locked one arm around Kusy's chest plating and repositioned to start eating at the recovery arm.

Kusy leaned away as Atryom spat a line of acid down the recovery arm. They couldn't do the same, not in this position and not without risking an acid bath themself, but they could fight against the forming weak point so long as Atryom was able to reach. Kusy kicked and pressed outwards, trying to strain the arm, make the metal crunch and snap.

Light washed over them. Full-spectrum, like starlight, but too concentrated, too contained. A ship's artificial gravity pulled at them until they were dropped into a growing pile of scrap.

That ache and itch returned in full force. This was far, _far_ more scrap than they'd ever gathered, in useable pieces. But if they didn't move, they'd be crushed under the weight of even more as the recovery arms brought it in.

Kusy freed Atryom's arm from their chest, took their hand, and dug. Atryom heard the screech of metal scraping metal. Both felt the sting of new, shallow cuts, the pain mixing with the ache and an odd tingling feeling that they knew came from their plating absorbing oxygen. They dug faster, throwing scrap aside with abandon. A haze was already settling in them. Disorientation would set in next, and that could get them killed.

Was that the slope of the pile? Kusy tried to focus, but they hurt all over and the world felt like it was spinning and they felt the overpowering _need_ to get back into the middle, the deepest part. Atryom was already falling behind, their weight tugging at Kusy's joints with every move.  
Atryom stiffened. Kusy gave them a good tug, but then they felt the pliable touch of soft-skinned beings. Humans?

The humans pulled the tired and confused Lanius out of the pile, sending the two tumbling down to the ground. Neither could find the energy or willpower to stand, though Kusy peered up at the humans. There were lots, at least four. Their mouthparts were moving, and one gestured towards the Lanius.

Atryom tried to slip their hand into Kusy's, to sign a rough translation, but them the humans grabbed at them and yanked them apart. Atryom tried to fight back, swinging wildly. They managed to connect once with a human's stomach before they couldn't keep it up any more and a human had a gun pressed against their throat.   
Kusy tried to look around, gathering what sparse information was available. There was no point risking them both.

The humans worked fast to drag the Lanius out of the cargo room and up to the next level. This space was equally huge, but instead of being filled with scrap, it was filled with shipping containers.

One human went ahead and opened up a bright red container, this one sturdier than most.

Atryom was shoved in first, then Kusy. The door slammed shut in their faces, the entire container clunking as it was locked.

The tingling sensation slowed, then stopped. No oxygen? They huddled together in the darkness, Kusy feeling Atryom's shoulder. One of the chips was missing. One-third of what could be the most valuable data to the Federation, gone.

They grabbed at Atryom's hand, signing the situation until the frustration and pain and the last remnants of oxygen-dizziness left them unable to sign properly, just hit Atryom's hand, then the floor, then their leg.

Atryom reached out to try and get Kusy's attention, but something else touched them first.

Kusy didn't hear the screaming, but they saw Atryom scramble back against the edge of the container and some other form going the other way.

Atryom stayed back, even as a new voice spoke.

Translator. One word, over and over again. Atryom found the courage to crawl towards this voice, urging Kusy alongside them.

This Translator had huddled in a corner by an electric candle, the only source of light.

Even in the dim lighting, Translator's form was clear. Thin, lanky, on the small side. A young Lanius. A _very_ young Lanius, a couple years old at the absolute most.  
Kusy moved to them first, unafraid. The juvenile rocked back and forth, watching. Kusy tried to scoop them up.

That did not go well. Translator screeched, making Atryom wince, and flung themself away from Kusy.

Atryom went after them, demanding an explanation.

Translator hid in another corner and said a harsh, definitely not thought up by a young Lanius line about being property now, metal parasite.


	8. Send a Signal

At least Kusy was not bothered by Translator's habit of repetition. The juvenile had been saying 'metal parasite' over and over, changing tone, changing frequency, anything but the words themselves. Atryom had retreated to the other side of the container with Kusy so the two could talk, maybe even come up with a plan.

It was not long before they came to the conclusion that their captors were fools. Who would put Lanius in a metal container?

Atryom scrabbled at the bottom of the container. Kusy tried the door. The metal was smooth, it felt weird…

Kusy returned to the electric candle, holding it up close to their face and getting a better look at their sharp fingertips.

There was definitely something on there. A nonstick coating, maybe?

They put their finger in their mouth.

Bad idea, bad idea! It was disgusting, sour, but with the sickly sweetness of rusted iron. Far too strong a flavor for so little of a substance. Poison, they guessed. Or at least something non-edible.

Kusy dropped the candle to rush to Atryom's side, tapping their shoulder until Atryom was paying attention. Kusy took Atryom's hand, wincing internally when Atryom pulled back a little. But still Kusy warned Atryom. As they signed, they thought.

What about Translator?

If the juvenile ever scraped up the coating, they could have ingested it. With those concerns shared, both decided to approach Translator.

Translator eyed them, wary; the adults kept a good distance away, Kusy almost against the wall and Atryom about halfway between Kusy and Translator.  
Atryom asked if Translator had scraped up the interior before.

Translator made the sound of an Engi shutting down.

Well, that was close enough to a “no” for Atryom. They moved towards the candle to sign by the light and let Kusy know.

Translator scooted closer, neck craned to get a better look at Atryom's hands. They chirped and tried to imitate Atryom's signs.

Atryom placed the candle between them before repeating the signs, saying each word as they signed it. Had Translator never been taught sign language? Something so common throughout Lanius communications? How early had they become a slave?

But Translator picked up fast, especially on the most basic signs, those taught to the youngest of Lanius. “Yes,” “No,” “Want,” “Need,” those sorts, Translator only needed a quick refresher before signing them with practiced skill. Kusy joined them, just watching for now, adding in an agreement when Atryom told Translator to sign to talk to Kusy.

Translator's response that they would do anything they were told to cut into Atryom's core. Kusy, thankfully, never heard.


	9. Shackled To My Feet

Two jumps. The Lanius felt two jumps before the ship stopped for an extended period of time. They didn't know who got agitated first, Translator or the adults, but soon Kusy was pacing, Atryom trying the door, and Translator was curled up in their favorite corner.

The ship jolted upwards, throwing Kusy and Atryom to the floor. Evasive maneuvers.

Kusy used their arms to drag themself closer to Translator, Atryom getting into a crouch before catching up. There was no way they could lose Translator if something happened, if the ship was destroyed. Condemning any Lanius to aimless drifting in space was a cruel fate for the worst criminals. Translator should never have to suffer that.

Translator made a high pitched sound as the adults came closer, curling into a tighter ball. Atryom stopped Kusy, both sitting still but remaining in arm's reach of each other and Translator.

The ship moved twice more, then came to a dead halt. Was the fight over? The ship wasn't destroyed, was it? What if they were trapped in this container?

Kusy stood to try and investigate. There had to be a way out, the door had to be openable from the inside somehow.

Atryom heard the heavy _thump_ of the door unlocking. They lunged forwards to try and grab Kusy, but they were too far away.

Light and oxygen flooded the container, catching all three Lanius by surprise. Four humans rushed in, grabbing Kusy while they were still stunned. It was only once they were out of the container and the door had been shut again that they saw the humans' mouths had been moving.

Inside the shipping container, Atryom asked Translator what the humans had been saying. It was hard to understand four at once, so long after the one human they barely talked to had died.

The Engi. Whomever “the Engi” was, they would be Kusy's next owner.


	10. Guide Me Home

The slavers pushed Kusy into a teleporter. Dazed by the sudden change and the oxygen in their plating, they hardly realized where they were until they weren't there anymore.

The new ship was dark. Better lit than the container by far, but the Knapp had been brighter. The hum of the engines was strange, different, channelled differently than every other ship they had been on. And there was oxygen here, too. Less, but still some, like it was draining out.

But Atryom wasn't here. The slaver ship could jump away at any moment, separating the two for what felt like the first time in an eternity. No. On the off chance the slavers were still there, they needed to talk to Atryom, even if they couldn't get a response. There was one sentence Kusy remembered how to speak, one thing they had learned for one case: when they had left their original flock on the Knapp.

Kusy screamed love as far-reaching as they possibly could.

A small drone, a simple systems repair drone, rolled up, stopping in front of Kusy. A small flashlight on its head lit up, it turned around, and then it left.

Kusy scrambled to their feet to chase after it. Were they supposed to follow? They bet they were supposed to follow. Maybe the person controlling this ship, and the drone, could help them. Maybe they could even free Atryom, too.

And Translator.

The drone moved fast. Kusy had to keep up a quick clip to stay by it, examining the ship through what little light was available.

It looked haphazard and shoddy, but they felt no shake of a ship vibrating itself apart, just the thrum of well-made, well-maintained systems.

The drone stopped in front of a door and a small, green-tinted screen. Once Kusy stood at the screen, the drone's light went off and it rolled away. Alone again.  
Kusy moved to tap at the screen, only for an Engi to appear, nothing displayed on its screen, just a blank green square situated in a short and sturdy, shimmering form.

After a few seconds, the Engi waved.

Kusy signed back.

The Engi's startled, flustered reaction made Kusy chuckle. All of a sudden the Engi was blurred at the edges, movements frantic as it worked at a computer. A text window popped up beside the video chat.

B-152355

ALTERNATE: BOVEE

The Engi gestured towards themself.

KUSY

A poll appeared, covering Bovee's face. Kusy stared at it, unsure what the words intended but knowing they were all related. They picked the top ones, “they/them.” It seemed like a safe bet.

The poll cleared, then Bovee leaned out from behind it as a new dot appeared. This dot was at the third option, “he/him.”

Oh, so was the poll some sort of personal identifier? Kusy hoped they didn't screw it up. But the poll disappeared before they could reconsider.

Bovee moved out of the way, repositioning what Kusy saw so that they could see out a window. Another ship – the slave ship? - sat in space, hull pockmarked with fresh damage. Kusy reached out, fingers brushing the screen. Atryom was still near, maybe everything could be okay.

Then Bovee was back in view, and made a near-universal gesture.

One hand across the throat in a quick, slicing motion.

Kusy didn't notice they screeched until Bovee blurred in shock. Their hands batted at the screen. They had to tell. They couldn't risk another loss.

ATRYOM

ATRYOM

ATRYOM

Bovee held his hands up, trying to placate the panicked Lanius.

Kusy didn't know all the words that Bovee wrote back, but they knew KILL.

A new thing hummed, the hungry feeling of a new weapon firing up. Kusy collapsed against the wall, fingers scraping their way down. Lanius had few problems with slavers. If one's services were to be bought and sold, it was agreed that all parties were to consent. The slavers out here, out with the other species, had refused those standards, but they did not like Lanius slaves. Kusy had let the word they needed slip from their mind.

The lights dimmed further as the weapon fired, brightened when it was shut off.

Kusy didn't realize they were shaking with anger until they stood again, feeling ready to rip through the door separating them from Bovee and devour every last nanobot in revenge.

The screen was still on, but Bovee was not facing them, instead piloting the ship towards the slavers. Kusy pounded their arm into the wall, hard enough to leave a dent on both.

Bovee looked back and waved before pointing at the slaver ship.

There was nothing. No movement, no flash of a jump, no lights of a running weapon. Bovee typed something into the text window, two words Kusy knew with an unknown sandwiched in the middle. “ANTI” and “BEAM.”

Anti-what beam? Where was this beam focused? Had it hit Atryom?

ATRYOM

Bovee waved again and turned back to the window. The massive slave ship looked about ready to swallow Bovee's ship whole. It had already done that to the Knapp.

The ship docked so smoothly Kusy only noticed it had happened when they stopped moving and that systems repair drone returned, light on. It bumped Kusy's leg before continuing.

Kusy followed it down the hall, through an oxygen circulator that was hardly running, to an airlock. The drone stopped at the threshold between the two ships, gesturing for Kusy to go on. Kusy signed to the drone that if anything had happened to Atryom or Translator, Bovee was dead.

The ship was littered with corpses. Humans, all of them that Kusy could see, slouched over or fallen where they stood, like their bodies spontaneously decided not to work. Kusy stepped past, careful not to touch any of them.

Whatever that beam was, they knew they did not want it turned on anyone they loved.

Down one floor were the shipping containers. Bright red, bright red... Please let none of them be dead.

The door's handle was more like a clamp. Spinning it open exacerbated Kusy's dizziness; they hesitated before pushing it up, both to recover a bit and to brace for what could be inside.

Light flooded the shipping container, revealing two stunned but very much alive Lanius. Both in the corner, Atryom in front like a guard.

Kusy stood still as Atryom barreled straight into them. They embraced, Atryom nuzzling Kusy's head and signing love into their hand.


	11. If I'm Lost

At least they knew that the Knapp was on top. Atryom was accompanying Translator back to Bovee's ship, leaving Kusy to start the process of finding the lost data chip.

They had done one half-lap around the scrap pile to see where they had come in. Even that had taken enough time for the oxygen levels to decrease noticeably, and for Kusy to start adjusting to the ache of so much scrap. The tops of the recovery arms, capable of reaching well within the ship, would have put them right in the middle.

Atryom entered, first steps inside slow, but soon they were almost running into the scrap pile. They tore into it, taking one piece to eat as they pulled out more and more.

Kusy ran over to tap at Atryom's shoulder until they saw Kusy's signing about not bringing the whole pile down. There was already a mess at their feet, and destabilizing the large pile would get the chip even more lost at best, crush them at worst.

They agreed to start at the top, where the Knapp was. If they were lucky, the chip may have gotten caught on something bigger and stayed put. Otherwise, they had a lot of scrap to work through. Before they could climb up, though, three drones entered. Two of the system repair drones, one heavily-armed one likely meant to repel boarders. Or maybe board ships itself.

Translator ran in, too, exclaiming that all of them were there to help!

The adults balked.

Translator did not put up much of a fight when Atryom shooed them out. Kusy saw them sign that it was dangerous, and maybe finding a way to help the Engi on his ship would be better for now. No doubt Atryom was transmitting to the juvenile, too.

The drones stayed. The systems repair ones circled around before making a way into the bottom of the pile. Atryom explained on their way back to Kusy that the drones knew what to look for and how not to knock everything down, and that the anti-intruder one would bring any other scrap back to the ship. Translator accompanying them had been the only unexpected part of the plan.

Halfway up the pile, Atryom signed an idea.

Kusy agreed.

The work flew by. Kusy tossed parts from the Knapp down to the anti-intruder drone. Atryom picked through in search of the other data chip, pausing often to make sure the other two were still in place. It was not long before their arms hurt and they were taking short breaks. They switched roles often, going from slow and delicate to fast and physical and back again.

Hours passed, and one of the drones reported finding seventeen intact data chips on the bottom layer. Atryom had been summoned down to look at the spread of chips on the floor.

They could immediately rule out some. Wrong color, Rebel insignia, covered in dried slime. The others, the drone picked up to bring to Bovee's ship.

Translator came by again. Atryom almost shooed them out before they could say they were only here for something to eat. Both adults took a short break then.

There was no conversation. Translator stayed close, but jerked back whenever the adults moved too much. The juvenile ate fast, scrap disappearing into their mouth before they could have reasonably digested it. They stuck around until Atryom and Kusy were done, leaving when Atryom gave them a pointed look.

Eating provided a surprising morale boost. Atryom hopped down the pile the next time the drones declared they were done with one level. Kusy threw scrap to the anti-intruder drone with all the more vigor, hunted with a keener eye.

Less than half the Knapp was gone before Bovee, talking through the anti-intruder drone, declared the ship could hold no more scrap. The drones had made it halfway up the pile, and every time Atryom went down Kusy wondered how accurate any of them were in their search.

Tiredness set in sooner than it felt like it should have. The Lanius's efforts slowed to a crawl. They signed less to ensure they did not snap at each other, or take them into an off-topic conversation. Translator approached once more to ask when they would be done.

Atryom said soon, but did not intend to keep it as a promise. They pulled themself up to where Kusy had dozed off, torn between nudging them awake (how dare they get more sleep?) and falling asleep beside them.

Kusy awoke when Atryom brushed past them. They ran their fingers through the scrap as if to say yes, they totally were searching.

Atryom didn't respond. They dug their arms as deep into the pile as they could, pulling it up and throwing it in the air like a shower.

Both saw the glint of gold. Kusy caught the data chip.

It looked right. Same color, same size as the others. It had the slight rough edge where the tuhar had not broken off cleanly.

The Lanius could not get down fast enough. Hours of work, forgotten as they ran up to and through the airlock as quickly as a metal being could go.  
Kusy inserted the chip into one of the computers while Atryom swore Bovee to secrecy. All three checked the data for corruption, missing files, anything that could have happened while the chip was in the scrap pile.

It checked out. It all checked out.

Atryom reattached the chip, reinforcing all three. As soon as they were done Kusy grabbed their hands and the two began to dance, inviting in Translator when the confused child asked what they were doing.

Bovee recalled the drones and jumped away, heading right for a distress beacon.


	12. One Man Maze

They learned a lot about Bovee fast. Mostly, they learned that Bovee could not resist a distress call; they came to two in a row, one where they sat back and watched as the Engi fixed a haywire satellite defense system with nary a fired shot, and another where he chased down a pirate that had been attacking a civilian ship. Atryom was used to the ion and laser system that Bovee had; the Knapp had a similar setup, albeit with different weapons. The anti-bio beam, as Translator had called it, was under Bovee's sovereign control.

The pirates powered down their weapons as a sign of defeat, but Bovee did not take it, ordering one last laser shot into their engines.

That was another thing they learned about Bovee. He did not do a job halfway. Heavy ion, heavy laser, a self-modified heavy beam. The first two alone ripped through ships.

For Kusy and deep down for Atryom, they were glad the beam drew so much power Bovee almost never used it.

But Translator was their biggest surprise. It was hard for the young Lanius to get used to the idea of freedom. They avoided the hall connecting to the cockpit – known as Bovee's room – and anything he did say they repeated often and with emphasis. So, most of the time, Translator could be found either playing with the drones or seeing what Kusy and Atryom were up to.

The adults had been accepted as not-scary during the satellite problem. With nothing else to do as Bovee worked, they had offered to teach Translator some more sign language. Translator accepted, and as the lesson got harder and more complex, they remained a dedicated student.

The real change happened when Translator messed up. They cringed and tried to fix it, but they were too scared to sign right, which further stressed them and soon they were huddled up, shaking.

Atryom gently touched Translator's chin. They signed again, slower, and Translator repeated it correctly.

Both adults signed every positive thing Translator knew so far. Kusy threw in some they hadn't learned, and the rest of the lesson was dedicated to teaching Translator the meaning of the praise. When Atryom had to go back to the weapons room, Translator followed, a spring in their step.

They encouraged Translator to practice. Atryom signed during every verbal conversation, and Kusy conversed as much as possible. Explaining their current activity, asking what Translator had been up to, a funny story, anything that crossed either's mind.

There was a sort of ease to not being on the Knapp, too. The Rebels had known that they needed to chase after a Lanius ship with a certain jump signature, and had harassed them at any chance. With the Knapp gone, they had plenty of reason to think the data the ship carried was lost as well. But Kusy and Atryom knew it was only a matter of time before someone realized the Lanius may not be as dead as they thought. It didn't help that even though the Rebels were content to ignore Bovee's ship, Bovee took that as an opportunity for a sneak attack.

The Lanius were starting to think there was a good reason Bovee had been alone.


	13. I Feel You

They discussed their idea with Bovee first. Well, it was more a statement than a discussion. Bovee did not seem concerned at all, saying that so long as they did their part on the ship, everything currently attached to the ship stayed that way, and the drones went untouched, the Lanius could do what they wanted.

Next they sat down with Translator. The ship had just jumped into an uncharted nebula, and all was quiet for now. What better time was there?

Translator took advantage of the time to ask countless questions. Soon Kusy couldn't communicate effectively with the child, leaving Atryom to relay the verbal conversation. Translator's initial apprehension couldn't withstand curiosity, then unabashed excitement.

The adults had a hard time keeping Translator out. But the first step was to sort out the scrap they wanted to use, and they did not want to risk Translator getting underfoot.

By Kusy's request, everything they picked came from the Knapp. Atryom didn't mind; they had suggested it in the first place, though they had thought they'd just use a majority from the Knapp, not every last piece. Of course, that meant a lot of work to make parts they couldn't find.

When Bovee called them back up to their stations for a surprise fight against a pirate, both found themselves reforming scrap between weapons shots and evasions.  
Finding and reforming the scrap proved to be the easy part.

It was hard, letting go. Kusy looked at every piece of scrap and saw the ship they had worked so hard to own, that they had cared for with great diligence for years, and whose destruction haunted them like a specter. Their distress affected Atryom in turn, and both struggled to envision or even begin their work.

Frustration mounted. What had been enticing, exciting possibilities fled with so little as the barest attempt to focus on them. Atryom tried talking to Kusy as a sort of background noise, both via sign language and transmissions. Neither got any further. They tried checking up on and reinforcing the modifications on their own body, only for their mindset to evaporate the moment they turned to the task at hand. They tried starting at different points, even when it went against what they felt was right.

Translator rounded the main scrap pile, finishing off what appeared to be a piece of carbon fiber. They sat near the adults, looking between the two of them and the scrap they had gathered. And they asked if they could see.

When Atryom said that there was nothing _to_ see, Translator asked if they could at least demonstrate what they were supposed to do.

Kusy tried. They signed what they could with one hand, holding up a piece of scrap with the other. But something wasn't right, they could not find the inspiration they had felt.

Translator picked up a piece from the pile and offered an exchange.

At first, Kusy refused. That piece was for something else, its destiny was for something different.

Translator did not give in. If these Lanius messed up the first time, if they did the wrong thing, they corrected themselves. The big difference was that Translator did not know what was the right answer, they only gathered that Kusy did not have it yet.

To at least satisfy the child's curiosity, Kusy traded. They tapped at the new piece of metal, one finger running down it where it _felt_ like there ought to be a groove.

Without warning, Kusy bit down on it, acid cutting a precise line where their finger had been. Anything too reacted was scraped away. They curled the remnants in to form two near-identical cones. Kusy had not yet perfected their use of tuhar to heal themself or Atryom but by now they were just doing, and doing coaxed a seamless meld between the two edges.

When they were done they noticed Translator and Atryom staring at them in awe. Kusy held out the results for inspection. They were not quite sure what just happened but... it felt right. The others deserved to at least see and pass their own judgement.

Translator, not knowing the correct sign yet, stuck out their own foot and wiggled their toes.

It took a second before the adults processed what just happened, but as soon as they realized Atryom hugged Kusy close, pressing their heads together. They rocked side to side, Atryom squealing in joy while Kusy burbled, confused yet happy.

It was a small start, but a start was all they needed.


	14. Chasing the Fight

A weapon floating in space was the last thing they needed. Installing it took precious time, even with two drones, two Lanius, and Bovee directing them all on how to install the burst laser. And then, of course, he decided to upgrade the reactor, shield, and weapons systems.

Atryom and Kusy had promised to help out, and they found the upgrades easier than usual, they wanted to get back to construction. It filled almost every moment of their free time; whenever Bovee didn't need them, the Lanius were below deck. They had almost one full leg and half of the lower body done so far, with Kusy preferring to work feet-up and Atryom starting from the torso and branching outwards, and the two occasionally switching places to ensure coherence in form.

It did not help that with the new weapon and upgrades in place, Bovee wanted to test them. His aggressiveness had been bad enough when he was not trying to pick a fight.

All that did not prepare them for jumping to a new beacon only for intruders to teleport on from a severely damaged ship. Alerts lit up at both of their stations that the med bay was under attack.

Atryom led the charge into the med bay. They rammed into the first surprised human shoulder-first, angling upwards so the spikes impaled her. Both humans screamed, the second started shooting. Atryom angled the first human between them as they pushed her off. The bullets stung, but the med bay's nanobots worked faster, and the human was hesitant to shoot his dying fellow.

Kusy slipped past Atryom. The second human fumbled as the other Lanius pushed him up against the wall, cried and flailed as Kusy bit down on both his hand and the gun. The acrid stench of dissolving metal and flesh filled the room before Kusy let go.

The human stared at the wound, the slick flesh and hints of tendon and bone, and slumped to the floor in shock. The yellow light on his rebreather turned red; no matter what, he did not have much time left. Kusy signed an apology, but even if the human understood the language, he was in no state to see the words.  
Suddenly air hissed into the med bay. Something was wrong. Bovee only circulated oxygen in the cockpit, and left the rest of the ship to the Lanius. Atrom led Kusy out of the med bay and into the hall connecting it to the cockpit.

The door to the cockpit was wide open.

Inside Bovee struck back at the two humans who had surrounded him, but it was clear he was hurting them less than they hurt him.

One human noticed the Lanius and shouted. That's all they had time to do before Atryom leapt into the fray, the comms hissing with their battle fury.

With the humans distracted Kusy ducked in to grab Bovee. Dead nanobots littered the ground around him, with more falling out as Kusy pulled him out of the cockpit. Bovee took it from there, body blurring and solidifying with every step towards the med bay.

He gave a moment's evaluation to the humans and signed a thank you to Kusy before the door shut.

A human body went flying past and fell onto the floor at Kusy's feet. The human struggled onto his arms and gaped. Eyes bulging, mouth opening and closing, until he collapsed once more.

Kusy dared to enter the cockpit and was welcomed by a bloody mess. The last human was, put simply, beyond dead, and Atryom stood in the middle of it all, making repairs. Bullets had dented and punched through them; some hit the hull.

Atryom accepted Kusy's guidance out of the cockpit and down the hall until they reached a room that wasn't slowly filling with oxygen. A drone passed them on the way, cleaning supplies in hand. Kusy took a rag from it and wiped the blood off Atryom while they tended to their wounds.

The drone returned, stopping in front of them, when Atryom only had dents left. Its light flickered, queueing the Lanius to follow it over to the hall and the cockpit's door, shut and locked once more.

There was no video chat on the small screen, only a message.

INJURED HUMAN (IDENTITY: JASON) PRESENT IN MEDICAL BAY. UNWILLING. RELEASE AT NEXT COLONY.

DO NOT KILL.


	15. Pouring the Fuel

“Do not kill,” did not mean “Do not harass,” and Atryom took advantage of that loophole. At the next beacon Bovee had found the ship-to-ship fight he was looking for. The moment the offending ship was destroyed, the Lanius were on their way to the cargo hold. Atryom took a detour to the hall by the med bay to stare at Jason through the door's window. Jason scowled back, and in turn Atryom postured threateningly, spikes flared.

Kusy nudged Atryom on, but stopped to peer through the window. Jason blanched and cradled his hand. Bovee had permitted the med bay to heal that one wound, but it was scarred, discolored, the nearby fingers and thumb curled inwards. Kusy signed another apology and followed Atryom to the cargo hold.

Translator had slept through the battle, curled up on the floor facing the in-progress Lanius. They awoke when the adults approached and sat up, head lolling.

Kusy thanked them for staying safe and watching over everything. Atryom relayed the warning about the human in the med bay and that if Translator wanted to go up to the main deck, it was safe now.

The child stuck around a little longer to watch Atryom and Kusy work before leaving.

Progress was slow, both distracted by the presence of Jason. What if the human was a Rebel sympathizer? Or if he gave the Rebels information out of spite? Kusy could still taste the distinct organic-ness of his hand in conjunction with the gun he'd wielded.

They felt the scrap recovery arm dropping pieces of the other ship onto the floor. The upgrades had drained almost all their resources, and the Lanius had claimed a few extra pieces of the Knapp as well. Just in case. The scrap recovery arm stayed well out of their way, at least.

The recovery arm had stowed itself and the engines were rumbling in preparation for a jump when Kusy put the finishing touches on the left leg.

Through the jump the two worked together to tie in the leg's systems to what there was of the torso. Atryom made the delicate work look simple, and every test Kusy did couldn't find a problem. At least, not in the motor functions. It would take an actual, conscious mind to answer for anything else.

Atryom heard Translator talking first, already at the point where whatever they were repeating was unintelligible without knowing the original. They walked like they were stepping through a minefield, but they sat down heavily enough to get Kusy's attention.

Jason was no longer in the med bay.

Atryom was on their feet before Translator could continue, struggling to sign what they were telling the adults. The human was not free; he was accompanied by the anti-intruder drone. But Bovee wanted the Lanius to talk to him and see if they could ease any potential hostilities.

Bristling, Atryom stormed towards the elevator. Translator was close behind, being vital to the upcoming exchange. Kusy looked back at the in-progress Lanius one last time before they left.


	16. I'll Sing

They found Jason in the cockpit, the anti-intruder drone posted by the door. The screen was on, showing Jason huddled close to the screen, Bovee lurking in the background. Jason muttered about the Engi's mental health.

He startled and spat curses when Translator's voice came on over the comms, speaking in the Lanius dialect Atryom knew.

Bovee saw the way Kusy watched Jason's reaction and pushed his way between the human and the computer to pull up a text box. He pointed it out, telling Jason to use it as well.

HOW FUCKING MANY OF YOU ARE THERE?

Translator repeated the sentence Jason typed, and was able to sign most of it, though their attempt to translate “fucking” led to a lot of half-started signs. Atryom told them not to worry about the cursing; Kusy would get the gist of it.

Kusy asked what they were supposed to be getting the gist of.

The other two Lanius parted to let Kusy up to the screen. Jason blanched, trying to back up only to run into Bovee, who pushed him back to the computer.  
Someone must have made a noise, because Jason flinched again. Kusy looked back at the other two, who both gestured at them. When they looked back at the screen, Jason's face was screwed up. Brows drawn, eyes narrow, nose wrinkled, mouth pursed. Humans were so expressive with just one part of them alone. Amazing.

But Kusy had a message they wanted to get across. Once again, they apologized.

Kusy did not know many human facial expressions, but they knew confusion. They'd seen it many times on the rare occasions they talked to Thomas. They pointed at their own hand, the same one they'd bit on Jason, and repeated the apology.

His eyes went wide, his mouth ever so slightly open. He leaned forwards to type.

YOU'RE DEAF?

Translator peeked over Kusy's shoulder to read the message. Soon Atryom came up alongside them, out of view, just in case both Kusy failed to recognize a word and Translator failed to sign it.

YES.

The adult Lanius recognized the bared-teeth smile from when they had agreed to hire Thomas. They'd taken step in the right direction, apparently. But Translator backed away.

SO'S MY SISTER.

The conversation flowed from then. Jason's sister, Lauren, preferred lip reading and hearing aids instead of sign language, but he knew a little bit. He had thought that all Lanius signed and didn't use verbal language at all; he'd never met a Lanius before, just heard rumors and stories from those who had fled the sectors the Lanius frequented.

That led to the awkward discussion of the bite wound. Jason knew Lanius ate metal, but had not expected Kusy to go after his gun, let alone his hand.

Kusy explained they never intended to bite his hand. They just wanted to put the gun out of commission. And no, Jason's hand did not taste good, not even the gun tasted good.

Jason asked why he'd been spared, but none of the others.

Atryom stepped in then, telling the human that it was pure luck. They had fully expected him to die when his respirator went red. Only Bovee's need to use the med bay had saved him.

Jason glanced back at the Engi, who was as impassive as ever.

Kusy and Translator typed one more question.

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SHIP?


	17. Evading Shadows

There was a Rebel ship at the beacon, weapons hot. The sort of xenophobes that the Rebels drew, the ones willing to attack other races in their own territory.  
Too bad its only weapons were a laser, a beam, and a beam drone. With two layers of shields, Bovee's ship was in no danger.

Translator was hardly aware of the fight; Bovee had let them to wander the ship, instead of being confined to the drone storage or door control room. So they were there to help when Kusy got a message that Jason had been let out to assist with the shields. He was still to be accompanied by the anti-intruder drone, which had orders to shoot if he did anything detrimental. But the human had gotten restless and, as they had learned, had plenty of reason to hate the Rebels above and beyond the lingering tension from his boarding attempt. Bovee welcomed the extra set of hands, damaged or not.

In fact, the message said, this was going to be a training exercise. Atryom was to only use the ion beam until it looked like the Rebels would either flee or it was dragging on too long. Kusy and Bovee would work together to dodge as many shots as possible, and Jason would maintain the shields.

It went off without a hitch.

Jason and Atryom put more effort into defending and attacking respectively to try and show off to each other. With Bovee's permission and the use of the autofire program, the adult Lanius managed to duck belowdecks to do a little construction. When they decided as a team that they were done toying with the ship, the lasers made quick work of it.

They met at the cockpit again, the air-breathers inside while the Lanius crowded around the scene, all comparing notes and celebrating an easy victory. That's when Jason asked if he could travel with them a bit longer, claiming that the Engi sectors were not his home, and might as well have a guaranteed spot on a ship that wasn't in an area Rebels were starting to harass.

Kusy was the first to ask if they were sure. Atryom was stunned by the question. Bovee asked after Kusy, and accepted Jason's response that he was sure faster.  
When another Engi ship approached, offering a multitude of services and upgrades, they asked him again. He confirmed that he would rather be with them than in the other ship's boat, forced to sell everything they owned because of the war.

Bovee announced that he was going to buy a new weapon and a teleporter. Without a dedicated boarding crew, the teleporter was in case they needed to move people between ships, like if there were hostages or other slaves. The weapon was a massive beam, its prongs so long they were held together with a band at the end. A Glaive Beam. Just looking at it made Kusy uneasy, Atryom in awe.

Both begged Bovee to let them sit out installation. Besides the occasional, brief reprise, they'd had no opportunities to go belowdecks, and the sooner they were done the happier they would be.

They half expected to be shut down before they could start making their case. Instead, Bovee listened and shrugged. He had himself, two repair drones, and now Jason in a limited capacity. All he needed was Atryom's input on how they liked the weapons setup, and that would be minimal.

They savored the time together. Translator had offered to help Bovee with the teleporter (they were not allowed near the Glaive Beam), and as much as they liked the child, Kusy and Atryom enjoyed the peace of working just with each other.

Time slipped past. A partially-complete leg was finished and attached to the main body. Sharp angles started their weaving pattern across the chest.

Kusy sat back, small pieces of metal in their mouth in the process of being reworked into the organ that produced metal-digesting acid. They could start to see a slight resemblance to themself, to Atryom, but overall the new Lanius was unique. Beautiful. Where Atryom's chest was an upward scoop, a series of chevrons with just enough edge to each plate to make the pattern visible, the new Lanius's plates alternated up and down. Focus on it one way, and it looked like everything pointed downwards. Focus another way, and it all looked upwards. The swooping points on the limbs were thin, almost delicate. Definitely Kusy's influence, though Kusy's were shorter.

Atryom's head jerked up. Kusy followed their gaze to where Translator and Jason, respirator donned, were rounding the side of the main pile.

Neither Lanius thought a human's eyes could get any bigger. Translator scampered over to settle between the adults and tell Atryom they were needed up above.  
Jason said one thing, muffled by the respirator but not so much it disguised the comically high upwards trail of his voice, nor that Translator couldn't understand and relay it to the others.

Shocked, he asked if Kusy and Atryom were going to be parents.

The adults shared a look before giving an affirmative. The human term did not translate cleanly to the Lanius language; in almost every Lanius culture, the young were raised by the community as a whole. Construction was done on an invitation-only basis, but everyone played a part in childrearing. Both Kusy and Atryom considered their entire flocks family, and they figured Translator would have, too, if they hadn't been taken at a young age.

Atryom, spikes slightly less flared than their first few encounters with the human, got up and stood next to Jason, who was running his hands through his hair, taking deep breaths. Translator wrapped their arms around Kusy's abdomen and bonked their head against the adult's chest before going with, trying to sign the technical conversation they were mediating between Atryom and Jason.

Only after they left was Kusy able to relax enough to continue melding the metal, thoughts drifting to Jason's reaction and Translator's hug.


	18. Fairy Tales

There was a clear tension in the ship, and it wasn't just because they had jumped into a Mantis controlled sector.

Bovee had decided that everyone needed to get along better so as to improve their efficiency. Of course, this meant everyone but him. His contributions were improving Jason's respirator and adding on a small tank of oxygen so that the human could be in the same room as the Lanius for longer, suggesting topics, and designating a certain amount of time for this “team building.”

Unfortunately, they struggled to find things in common, even with Bovee's suggestions. They could only talk about Lauren so much, and Jason found Atryom and Kusy's flocks too complicated to keep track of when the Lanius talked about them. Translator refused to talk about their past beyond how they ended up on the same ship as the adult Lanius. It was a simple story: they were sold by different slavers as a tool to be used for trading with other Lanius, then sold off when it was most beneficial.  
Jason was also the only one who had grown up on a planet, and the Lanius had only seen urban areas on the rare occasions they did visit. The human struggled to get them to understand the flora and fauna he described, the joy of swimming in ocean water that posed a risk to Lanius bodies, the peace of a campfire and sleeping under the stars they considered home.

In turn, he and Translator did not always understand the adult Lanius. There were Kusy's tales of a long-ago war, of going to sleep tired and hungry, then waking up hundreds, maybe even thousands years later in the midst of another war and a plethora of scrap. Talking about comforting near-void of space unnerved Jason. At least the body-modifying subculture Atryom knew was similar to the human one, though neither seemed to fully process that most any human could do body mods, while only certain Lanius could.

At one of their jumps, a hunting Mantis ship interrupted the Lanius in their construction. One shot with the ion weapon and one with the Glaive Beam ended the ship, but instead of letting the Lanius return to the cargo bay, Bovee declared it socializing time instead, claiming that he wanted the scrap recovery arm to get as much as possible before the Lanius went belowdecks.

Jason took one look at the bristly Atryom and hunched over Kusy when he entered the engine room, and sat as far away as possible.

Quietly, he asked how much longer it would take for the new Lanius to be complete.

Kusy estimated in working hours. Atryom, bitter, suggested it would go the same way as their own construction and would not be completed until the start of the next feast cycle.

The mood did lighten a bit when Jason said that he was glad humans knew approximately how long it would take for them, even if many found the process itself a bit miserable.

That was how Jason learned the Lanius knew next to nothing about human biology, or any other species' biology for that matter. He figured reproduction was a strange place to start, but decided to teach them a little of what he knew anyways.

Atryom and Kusy did not believe him when he said that humans _expanded_ of all things, dismissing the (maybe slightly exaggerated) curve Jason mimed over his belly to demonstrate until Translator confirmed that yes, they had seen a couple humans like that. He laughed at the adults' bewilderment.

The topic turned to genetics and cell biology when Kusy asked how humans, who did not even _semi_ -consciously work on their offspring, managed to have children that looked so much like them.

By the end of the talk, the Lanius knew very well that the mitochondria was the powerhouse of the human cell.


	19. Just to Watch You Breathe

They were close. So, so close. Jason had finally convinced both Bovee and the Lanius to let him belowdecks so designated socializing time did not have to cut in to the Lanius's construction time. Honestly, they didn't do all that much talking after moving belowdecks, save for a couple comments from Jason on how _weird_ the process looked.

Atryom managed to spare the time to retort that the human had grown inside his parent like some sort of weird tumor-parasite. That surprised Jason enough that he sputtered, unable to think of a coherent response while Translator laughed, rolled onto their back with their legs kicking in the air.

Kusy looked up at the small commotion, head cocked to the side. Which made Jason start laughing, and Translator imitated him, confusing Kusy even more. Only when Jason mimed wiping his mouth (or, rather, the front of his respirator), did Kusy realize they had a strand of tuhar making its way down their jaw.

Jason eventually had to leave when his tank of oxygen ran low. By then the Lanius were so deep in their work they didn't notice; almost everything was in place and they were not stopping now. Just the head was left to complete, a few more things and this would all be done.

They didn't even notice the jump, barely acknowledged the sudden surge of heat in the cargo bay.

The two worked in tandem, the new Lanius supported in Kusy's lap while they and Atryom set in delicate parts. There was no room for conscious thought. That was too slow, too prone to debate and obfuscation and everything else they could not afford. Neither spoke at all, touching the other with absolute minimal force if they needed to get in. The smallest pieces of scrap they'd chosen littered the ground around them, within reach for a quick resupply.

They finished and Atryom closed off the head. Neither looked at the new Lanius's face yet.

Atryom started on the final touches, two sharp curves that started at the front of the chin and swept back behind the head.

Kusy waited.

As soon as Atryom finished they nudged Kusy, who bent over to get a better angle of the back of the new Lanius's neck.

They'd been working on this final piece for days, passing it between them. Even that felt like far too little time, but there was no leaving it out now, not this close. Kusy inserted it right below the juncture between head and neck as the cargo bay flushed cold with another jump.

Neither knew how much time actually passed, but it felt like forever. Atryom put an arm around Kusy's shoulders and leaned in close, listening to their quiet chatter because someone ought to.

Neither could take their eyes off of the new Lanius, but Atryom could feel the sign pressed into their hand.

Knapp.

Atryom was not in a position to disagree.

Metal scraped on metal. Thin little fingers curled against Kusy's abdomen.

Atryom's excited cheer could be heard throughout the ship. Kusy's would reverberate through space for a lightyear.

Knapp's head pressed into Kusy. Too much noise, what sort of world was this? Red-tinted eyes shuttered open, looking for the source.

Atryom heard footsteps pounding across the cargo bay. Kusy felt them. Neither bothered to look until Translator, Jason, even Bovee were surrounding them.

Translator reached out to Knapp, who returned the gesture. Their fingers wove together, holding close as Translator shifted around to get a better look, Knapp watching all the while.

Jason gasped and said she was adorable.

Everyone else (excluding Knapp and Translator, who were more interested in each other) stared at him, puzzled. He justified it by saying that Knapp was made from a ship, and in the tradition he knew, ships were referred to as “she.”

Atryom and Kusy looked down at Knapp, at each other, then at Jason to confirm that yes, that sounded fitting.

Bovee just said they needed to talk with him ASAP and left, leaving a trail of suffocated, dead nanobots.


	20. When We Collide

With the way the nanobots had been dying, Atryom and Kusy knew they would have some time before Bovee needed them back. He'd have to go to the med bay first.  
Jason left soon after, saying he wanted to give the Lanius some quiet time together. He tossed in one last congratulations before disappearing around the scrap pile.  
Knapp's reactions when the adults cheered had given them reason to suspect she could hear them, but they wanted to make sure, and they had the perfect way to do so. Atryom started a round of introductions, taking Knapp's hand which Translator wasn't holding. They pressed it to their own chest, and told Knapp their name. Atryom.

The new Lanius blinked, chirping in response.

Atryom introduced Kusy next, Knapp's hand sandwiched between their hand and Kusy's chest. Next, Translator, hands layered over each other. Translator repeated the sound Knapp made, the two going back and forth for almost half a minute before Atryom got them to stop. Then they returned Knapp's hand to her chest, saying her name with emphasis, power behind it.

Then it was Kusy's turn. They repeated the process, even in the same order, though they let Knapp's hand go to sign as needed. Knapp watched each movement, her own hands twitching.

Kusy ended their version of introductions by nuzzling Knapp's head. She chirped, not yet aware Kusy couldn't hear her.

As soon as Kusy brought their head back up, Atryom commented on how they were upstaging the gunner as a caretaker.

Knapp shifted, letting go of Translator's hand. The older child was left to the side for a moment while Atryom and Kusy helped Knapp up into a sitting position. She leaned against Atryom, Translator doing the same.

Kusy had never seen Atryom look more proud.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, Knapp squirming as she tested out her motor control. Translator talked to her. Most of it was encouragement, with a few suggestions and completely off-topic sentences thrown in. Atryom just tried to make sure she didn't fall over.

They did not know when Jason showed up, but he had been quiet until Kusy made eye contact with him. Soon he had the attention of all the rest, and that was when he coughed and said that Bovee was getting impatient.

Kusy stood, offering assistance to Atryom and Knapp. Knapp held on tight to Atryom, humming a high note as they helped her to unsteady feet. Jason darted forwards as she stumbled, but was nowhere near close enough to support her. Instead Kusy took her weight, patient as she grasped at their arms and tried to stay upright.

They had to sit down twice before she felt comfortable standing long enough to hazard a few steps with the adults at her sides.

By the time they got up to the main deck, they were five abreast, as tight a squeeze as that was. At least in the hallway by the cockpit they were able to spread out, even if Jason found himself in the doorway to the med bay.

Knapp burbled and sank down, legs shaking. The adults settled her against the wall, Translator drifting between her and them. She reached out for them and they patted her hand when possible, but they had a job to do.

It was the subtle things that showed how angry Bovee was. The way his shoulders hunched, the slightly brighter glare of his screen, how close he appeared in the video chat.

WE JUMPED TO A SUN. YOUR POSTS, ABANDONED.

Kusy gestured plaintively towards Knapp, who chirped at the attention. They had not intended to miss anything, but they had hardly been themselves, let alone capable of helping on the ship. The ship which Bovee could take full control of.

YOU HAVE YOUR DUTIES. YOU NEGLECTED THEM.

WE NEEDED A LITTLE MORE TIME.

Bovee became more of a swirling cloud of nanobots than a bipedal being, screen crackling with static. YOU FAILED. NEVER AGAIN.

The video chat cut off. Jason whistled and edged his way behind the Lanius towards his place with the shields. Before he shut the doors, he leaned out to tell Atryom and Kusy that he was totally willing to babysit, provided they gave him a little warning.

Atryom knelt to help Knapp up. Translator huddled with Kusy, repeating the words they had had to translate and rubbing their head against Kusy's side.

They barely made it to the engine room before Knapp protested and whined to be let down. Her parents and sibling sat with her, laid out flat when she did, and soon they were all fast asleep, tired from what had been a very exhausting day.


	21. They Think I'm Crazy

Two weeks passed without further incident. When there were pirates, Mantis, or violent Rebels, Kusy and Atryom were where they needed to be. Knapp wasn't allowed in the weapons control room, but the adult Lanius were not quite comfortable leaving her unsupervised belowdecks for so long, so she spent most of her time in the engine room clinging to Kusy or exploring where they could neither see nor hear her. A couple times they took up Jason's offer to watch her, provided he vented the room first so that he didn't have to worry about an oxygen-dizzy Lanius.

Socializing time was welcome now, maybe made moreso by the fact that Bovee didn't attend. His ship was a strange, tiny flock, busy in a way Kusy's ship had never been. Even the drones ended up with designated personalities. The systems repair drones were nicknamed “Thing One,” and “Thing Two,” courtesy of Jason. He couldn't get “Cat in the Hat” to stick to the anti-intruder drone.

Thing One came to retrieve Jason one day. Now the drones only flickered their flashlights to get attention; Bovee had agreed to brighten up the ship enough so that everyone could see with relative ease in exchange for some work on the reactor. Jason shielded his eyes when the light turned on in his face, grumbling at the drone as he got to his feet and excused himself from the circle they'd all been in.

Knapp followed him, disagreeing with the drone (and thus Bovee's) decision that Jason had to go. Translator tagged along with her, and Atryom went to make sure they didn't get themselves in trouble.

And, of course, what fun was missing out on whatever Bovee had gotten them all into this time?

Atryom rounded up the children, keeping back behind a door to watch as Jason stripped off his respirator and stood in front of the screen by the cockpit. His arms were crossed, stance wide.

But as they watched his shoulders sagged. He went from confident and stock-still to shifting his weight between his feet and scratching at his head. They couldn't hear what he said, but they could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

Finally he nodded, defeated, and walked into the med bay.

Lanius were not fast runners; that was inherent in their biology. But those three tried as they ran a loop around the ship, avoiding the cockpit and the oxygen remaining in that part of the hall. They surprised Kusy on the way through the engine room.

Kusy managed to get a couple fingers around the curve of Atryom's elbow as they passed by. The children rushed ahead unimpeded, Atryom warning them to not touch anything in the weapons control. Kusy didn't finish asking what was going on before Atryom signed that they didn't know and leaned in to tap their forehead against Kusy's.

Atryom chased after the children, leaving Kusy bewildered in their wake.

Knapp and Translator hovered by the door to the teleporter. They moved aside for Atryom, who cracked open the door and was instantly buffeted with oxygen. They slammed the door shut and ushered the children back a few more steps. Nope, that was not a place for Lanius right now.

Kusy joined them eventually; they had searched the ship and been unable to find Jason. Bovee had tried to explain what the human was doing, but without Translator most of the message had gone over Kusy's head. They just knew it involved the teleporter and some sort of technical issue.

The Lanius settled in to wait. Jason had to come back soon.

Light flared in the teleporter three hours later, waking Knapp and Translator from a nap. After realizing what happened Translator hopped up, mostly freeing Atryom. Knapp was still curled up in Kusy's lap, her feet on Atryom's leg, then on the floor once Atryom stood.

Atryom could see Jason through the small window. The human was directing someone somewhere, but they couldn't see who at this angle. He noticed them soon enough, though. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door between them. As fast as he could he told the Lanius to meet him on the other side of the ship, then shut the door.

Translator led the way, light enough to outpace the adults and more interested than Knapp.

They found Jason leaning on the door that separated most of the hall from the section closest to the cockpit, respirator on. He waved at the adults and accepted a short hug from Knapp, patting her on the back. Before any of them got to the door to open it he explained that Bovee had wanted him to talk to this fellow named Robert Smith, who was odd but friendly enough if you went with what he said. Robert was from a nearby colony, and was _supposed_ to be giving Bovee directions on how to get there.

As if on cue the engines came online, the slightest change of sensation indicating that they were on the move.

Jason stumbled as the door opened behind him, revealing Robert Smith.

Robert Smith was a Mantis.

Translator screamed. The sound came from every nearby comm, scaring Jason and Robert as badly as it did Atryom and Knapp, the latter babbling in fear. Kusy almost fell down when Translator launched themself into their arms, scrabbling to hold them tight then letting go to run away when Robert took a step forwards. Kusy went after Translator, disappearing around the corner.

All went quiet, Knapp's sobs and Kusy's confused chatter barely audible over the comms.

Robert spoke first, head ducked down, sharp front limbs rubbing together. He apologized, saying he had no idea the Lanius was so afraid of humans.

Jason did not know that Lanius hissed, but the sound Atryom made caused him to feel like he was about to wet himself. The way Atryom's spikes flared didn't help at all; he could still see his friends' blood on them, bits of viscera, an impaled body. Only instinct got him to accept Knapp's embrace when Atryom pushed her out of their arms and towards him.

Both Jason and Atryom knew what fear looked like in someone's eyes, and it was as plain as day in Robert's.

The Mantis didn't have time to back down. Atryom was on him in an instant, slashing at his face, thorax, everything. They ignored the deep marks Robert left as he flailed, trying to defend himself. They left more than enough themself.

When Robert tried to cover his eyes Atryom rammed their shoulder into him and flipped him onto his back. The force of the blow forced the air out of Robert's lungs, spittle flying. Some of it hit Atryom, hissing and bubbling on contact.

Atryom spit back. Robert shrieked as the acid began eating at his exoskeleton. His legs hammered at Atryom's underside, faster and faster as the Lanius held him down, arm forcing his head back.

That's when Jason tried to intervene, yelling at Atryom to stop before Robert suffocated. One of the low oxygen warning lights had already turned on and they were supposed to be helping this person, not trying to kill him, surely whatever happened with Translator wasn't Robert's fault. He pounded on Atryom's back, looped his arms around their waist and tried to pull them off, shouted in pain when one of Robert's feet speared his arm.

The anti-intruder drone appeared soon after and shot one round through Atryom's hip.

It was enough of a shock for Jason to get them off only to fall backwards with Atryom landing on top of them. Robert scrambled to his feet and into the med bay before either human or Lanius could regain their senses.

When they did, Atryom rolled off of Jason. The human's face was scrunched up, his hand probing his chest, but he still accepted Atryom's help up and guidance into the med bay.

The damage to Atryom and Robert was clear to see. Robert's arms had gouged long wounds into Atryom, and there were small marks where his own acidic spit had hit. Robert was bleeding from numerous scratches and puncture wounds, not to mention the chemical burn on his chest.

Jason sat down beside Robert, letting some of the nanobots swarm over him. It was going to be one heck of a process explaining that this wasn't the first time a newcomer was greeted with violence.


	22. Could You Come and Change Me?

Jason's biggest piece of advice for Robert was one that both had learned the hard way already: Don't piss off Atryom. Kusy was forgiving, Bovee was too focused on bigger issues (and it wasn't like the Engi could fight), and if you caused trouble with the Lanius kids then you dealt with Atryom anyways.

The second was that if you did not piss anyone off, then the ship was fine. Jason had been there for two, three months and even though he had been initially hostile he'd been accepted. It helped that he had reason to dislike the Rebels whose automated ships had attacked the mostly non-human colony he lived on and left so many of his friends and neighbors dead or living in fear. Was it weird, even scary living with the people who had killed his friends? Yes. Of course. _Kusy_ terrified him for the longest time.

That's when Jason showed Robert the scar from the bite wound, the way he couldn't quite straighten some of his fingers as far as the others.

Robert's arm hovered close to the wound on his chest. Why had Jason stayed on the ship, let alone started to get along with the Lanius if _this_ is what happens to people?

Jason went quiet for a long while before admitting that the former was because of the Rebels, and Bovee hadn't run out of fuel or had to sell all his possessions yet so he figured this ship was his best bet at getting home. The latter was because of Knapp.

He hadn't known Knapp existed for the longest time. For all he'd known the Lanius were aggressive for the sake of being aggressive (and he still wasn't sure about Atryom). They were just the enemy to him. Captors. Unwilling crewmates, once he started with the shields.

Finding out about Knapp had been like a bucket of cold water to his face. It had solidified the idea that the Lanius, and Kusy and Atryom in particular, were people, too. And if he and his friends had succeeded in killing them and taking over the ship? It would have taken a miracle to keep Knapp in her half-formed state, let alone born. Completed. Whatever it was. Samuel, who had gotten them all to board Bovee's ship in the first place thinking an Engi would be an easy target, would certainly have preferred taking apart Knapp for the scrap.

Jason wrapped his arms around himself, feeling the ghost of Knapp's hug from not that long ago. Or maybe that was the nanobots working on his ribs. But there were the nuzzles she liked to give him, too, and the headbutts that were painful and annoying in the moment but an inherent part of who she was. And the noises she made that almost sounded like a human baby's babble, not the chittering and chirping of the Lanius, though that was fun to listen to, too. Kind of reminded him of some sort of little electro-bird.

Funny how a few months had promoted him from enemy to almost family.

He had to reassure Robert that Translator was a good kid, too. Shy at first, at least for him, and they had never quite adjusted to Bovee, but it was clear the kid had gone through some shit in his short life. It was amazing Translator had taken to the adult Lanius.

Robert nodded and hummed. Maybe someday Translator would accept him as a human, albeit a strange-looking one?

Jason said nothing about that point. He'd spent hours talking to Robert when the other Engi first reported him as being “bugged.” Kinda ironic, that description. The bug who did not think of himself as a bug was bugged by being a bug.

When Robert asked what he was smiling about, Jason told him a joke Samuel used to tell about Slugs being really ugly nebula mermaids. Luaan Ti always suggested that maybe they were just the only mermaids anyone had survived seeing, for better or for worse. It made Robert laugh, or at least Jason _thought_ he was laughing.

A green light went off, indicating that Jason's healing process was as complete as the nanobots could get it. He patted Robert on the shoulder as he stood, offering to talk to Atryom and tell them off. It would take a couple days for them to reach the colony, and there was no way Jason was leaving Robert to converse only with him and Bovee, confined to the little bit of the ship that included the med bay, cockpit, and shields. The poor guy ought to at least be able to walk around the ship.

It was a good thing he wasn't facing Robert when he left, because the Mantis's (human's? Humantis's) little gasp and 'thank you' brought a dorky smile to his face he couldn't hide nor explain.


	23. There's No Hate

He threw open the door to the engine room, took one step inside, and marched right back out. Unfortunately he had already attracted their attention, they knew he was there and oh God he hoped they weren't as concerned as he was because in his eyes this was _mortifying_.

Logic told him that nothing... super personal... had been going on, but in the moment all he had seen was Kusy's head buried between Atryom's legs, nibbling at the gunner's hip.

He was in the weapons controls, hand over his burning-hot face, when Kusy poked their head in and signed at him.

Right.

Translator wasn't there.

Damn it.

Kusy realized that moments after and resorted to tapping Jason on the shoulder and ushering him inside. Atryom was sitting up, flexing the toes on their injured leg. Many of their wounds had been fixed, at least to the point where they were no longer critical. They gave Jason a funny look, one he had learned meant the Lanius was confused at his weird behavior. He got it a lot.

He took a deep break, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Kusy gently touched his shoulder, brushed his bright red cheek with a finger that was way too sharp for Jason to feel comfortable with being on his face.

He held up one hand to get them to at least stop, if not be reassured he was fine. It did get them to back off enough for Jason to go and sit down in front of Atryom, certain to stay well out of arm's reach. If they were going to fight, he wanted to make Atryom work for it.

After he sat down, Jason realized he had no idea how to communicate to the Lanius without Translator present. He and Atryom stared at each other, thinking.

Considering.

Finally Jason moved, holding one palm flat and skittering his other hand on it in a crude facsimile of a Mantis's spindle-legged walk. Atryom... didn't quite get it, tilting their head to the side, peering closer as they tried to figure out what the heck Jason was trying to do.

With a heavy sigh, Jason tried holding the finger-Mantis higher and saying Robert's name. Atryom knew that.

Shit, shit, shit, Atryom knew that. They went from kind of laid back and recovering to an angry, sharp mass. Jason scuttled backwards. He hit Kusy's legs as the other Lanius tried to rush over to Atryom to calm them down. Metal thumped into flesh and as Kusy stumbled over Jason he knew he was going to have one heck of a bruise to show for his efforts at peacemaking.

Atryom softened under Kusy's touch. Whatever Kusy signed into their hand must have helped, too, because in no time at all Atryom was attentive, but not aggressive. Jason's heart was still pounding so hard he would have bet Atryom could hear it, but at least it looked like he would not die today.

He repeated the motion that now stood for Robert. Atryom got a little angry again, a few of the spikes that had been as flattened as they could get flaring out, but Jason still felt comfortable continuing. He waved his arms in an X, shook his head, every single possible negative gesture he could think of. The Lanius had to know at least one, right?

He drew a finger across his throat before starting the “no” motions again.

It... worked, maybe? The two Lanius shared a look and signed back and forth, Atryom getting a bit more defeated every time Kusy signed. Kusy put one hand under Atryom's chin and pressed their heads together, then left. Where to, Jason wasn't sure, but he'd bet they were finding the kids.

Atryom chirped, staring straight into Jason's eyes once the human was looking at them. And then, they repeated the rough signs he'd made. Hand-mantis, no, cut throat, no.

Jason was not sure if they understood thumbs-ups or “thank you,” but he didn't stick around to find out.

He swaggered into the med bay, where Robert was checking out the machinery, and announced that he had done a diplomacy and there ought to be no more trouble. Robert cheered and clapped, thanking Jason profusely.

Still, when they arrived at the colony and found the humans that said they were Robert's parents, Jason did not expect Robert to ask if he could stay.

The two were with Bovee when Robert asked, taking a short walk while discussing their options away from Robert's parents. The Lanius had stayed aboard, unwilling to expose themselves (and especially the kids) to so much air. The air-breathers, on the other hand, were enjoying getting to walk about in the city. It wasn't a huge city, and not exactly the sort of major interstellar hub that Grachar or Vyn Risai was, but there was a good mix of species moving around the trio, and few people gave a second thought to the Engi and the Mantis walking next to each other.

Bovee asked Robert if he _really_ wanted to stay aboard. It was a dangerous life on the ship, and he could not guarantee anyone's survival to the next dropoff location, let alone to the end of the mission.

But Robert's eyes got all the brighter when Bovee mentioned a mission. There was no dissuading him, even when Bovee suggested trying to get aboard a different ship, one that may offer more prestige. Robert countered by saying Bovee was the only one that seemed vaguely willing to hire him.

And it was true. Bovee paused, screen down, before agreeing. Robert could be part of the crew if he wanted.

As Robert sped ahead, arms waving as he celebrated, Jason heard Bovee say something about having another funeral to plan.


	24. If It Means The Death Of Me

Bovee had asked Atryom to “teach Robert a few things” about fighting so that Robert could become their one-person boarding crew. More of a distraction than anything else unless they found someone else willing to be a boarder, but any disadvantage they could give to the enemy was invaluable.

They'd gathered in the engine room, Robert quaking in Atryom's shadow. Translator had long ago hidden in the cargo hold and refused to come up until Robert was away from the Lanius' corner of the ship. Kusy stood behind Atryom, watching. They were to serve as referee, break up anything that got too intense or too personal. Under their arm was Knapp, leaning into her parent. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she'd taken one look at Atryom's stance and decided she wanted to see what was happening.

Atryom sprung at Robert with as little warning as the first time they'd met. Instantly Robert's arms were in the air, crossed over his face. One hard smack from Atryom and he skittered back, trying to make himself look more aggressive. It failed. He just looked like he was trying too hard.

With a ruffle of their spines, Atryom stepped into Robert's space and corrected the Mantis's posture. Arms out to strike, not curled in close, lest he lose use of what may well be a Mantis's greatest weapon. Weight shifted forwards until it was more neutral. Finally they tugged him back to the starting point, stood a few feet away, and waited.

Both adult Lanius were ready to step in and encourage him when Robert rushed in, one arm over his chest and the other swinging at Atryom. From the way Knapp stiffened Kusy assumed someone had made a sound, probably Robert. They rubbed her back, eyes still on Atryom and Robert as the former backed the latter into a corner, and got a headbutt in response.

The moment they were out of sight around the engine Knapp pressed her head into Kusy's side, afraid. Atryom's footsteps, heavy and easily felt, had stopped too. Kusy walked with her to see what had happened on the other side. Had something gone wrong in the two seconds they had not been able to see the sparring match?

Atryom stood stock still, back facing Kusy and Knapp. Robert stared at Atryom's chest for a long moment before noticing the other two, his posture changing from uncertain to outright ashamed. Atryom turned around, hands hovering over an acid splash that was rapidly eating into their plating.

Kusy let Knapp go and was examining Atryom in seconds, tuhar already welling. They'd found the process of repairs, reshaping, general maintenance, everything was easier after Knapp came into being.

Atryom shifted, took Kusy's hands to gently push them back and sign that it was okay, repairs could wait.

The moment Kusy was out of range Atryom spun around and attacked Robert again. He flailed, scoring two gashes into Atryom's arms, and coughed spit onto the engine.

Kusy got in between them, stopping the fight with only a few scratches, and shooed the two away to fix the damage done.

They trained every day. Often Jason came by to watch or participate, showing Robert some tricks on fighting humans. Those matches were much gentler, with no real damage dealt. Maybe a nick here and there, something to put a bandage on and forget about. Slightly more intense than the couple of times Knapp got involved and had her own mock-fight with Robert or Jason. Neither were anything like the matches between Robert and Atryom, which usually sent Robert to the med bay and left Kusy busy helping Atryom patch up.

And every day Kusy or Atryom went down to the cargo bay to find Translator. At first the child would be in the corner, rocking, and would fight back if touched. Atryom would sit beside them. Kusy would get up and fiddle around with things until it looked like Translator had calmed down. It took a week and a half before Translator would accept an outright cuddle, then again to initiate one. If Atryom had come to get them, they would trace every new scar and healing wound. They asked Kusy if Atryom was okay.

Knapp seemed oblivious to Translator's fears. She just cared that her sibling was back, no matter what state they were in. She showed them everything she had learned, ranging from kicking at their legs (not well received) to a few choice curses Jason had said in her presence (Atryom found it funny and was glad Kusy was oblivious). Between Jason and Translator, she had quickly picked up human language alongside the Lanius dialect Atryom spoke and Kusy signed. Long ago she'd realized that speaking to Kusy was pointless and exclusively signed to them.

Then, a few days ago, Atryom and Kusy had talked to Bovee about letting the children stay with them during fights. Not because things had gotten easier, no. It was the opposite: every fight took more effort than the last, and they argued that if the ship was destroyed, they wanted the children in easy reach.

They weren't sure whether to be relieved or concerned when Bovee agreed.


	25. By The Light

The lights didn't turn on, but Jason heard Robert edge into his room. Mostly because the sound when the door opened was really obvious.

He also heard the quiet sigh and rasp of chitin as Robert sat down beside Jason's cot, limbs folded under his body. Soon he smelled freshly cleaned Mantis. Weirdly clean, come to think of it. Robert had been fighting aboard another ship earlier, and while Jason hadn't seen him since then, he had heard Bovee's surprised comment of an enemy life sign taken out before he could fire a shot into the room.

With a grunt Jason rolled onto his back so he could reach down, fingers grazing over Robert's head. He made a sound, but not a coherent one.

Robert seemed to understand the intent, explaining he was... not stressed. Anxious. No, guilty. He felt horrible, having killed someone. That person had family, and hopes, and dreams. Even if those dreams were of piracy.

It brought Jason's mind to Knapp. He pushed those thoughts away to tell Robert that teleporting in and killing someone was probably more merciful than if they had survived only to asphyxiate when the ship broke apart, or Bovee hit it with that hellish beam he kept hidden away. At least they got to die fighting, y'know? They died a badass.

Robert's voice was quiet. He didn't feel like a badass, he felt like a monster. What human killed with their bare hands in this day and age?

Jason snorted. Plenty. And some spat on their opponents, too, especially if they were in bar fights where the other guy had just simultaneously insulted and made a pass at their sister. Bastard got two beatings that day.

He yelped when Robert put two sets of limbs onto the cot, almost flipping him out of it. One barrage of apologies later and Robert admitted that he didn't want to be alone.

It took a lot of grumbling and readjusting, but soon Jason found himself being spooned by a Mantis. Robert was... kind of warm, which Jason didn't expect, and had three limbs draped over him. He could feel Robert's breath against his neck, soft and rapid.

Okay. It was a bit weird. More than a bit. But it wasn't weird enough for Jason to kick Robert out and shout at him to go sleep with Bovee instead. (Did Bovee even sleep?) Some deep down part of his brain must have been happy that there was an ally there. Backup, in case something happened.

He smiled and shook his head against his pillow. Must've been some lizard part of his brain or something.


	26. You Make Me More

It was not a good time to have Knapp around but battles were a bad time for anything to happen and _why was Knapp here and not with her parents, damn it?_ Any gunner worth their salt was going to target the shields... and the engines... and the weapons.

Jason opened his mouth to say something to her only to realize that one, he didn't know what to say, and two, he was not wearing his respirator. The air already felt thin, and Knapp was swaying on her feet, eyes unfocused.

He slipped on his respirator and took a deep breath. With one hand on her shoulder (thank goodness the kid was nowhere near as spiny as Atryom) he led her over to his cot. Nowadays she was coordinated enough to get in on her own without a problem, even when she wasn't feeling well.

She curled up and chirped at him as he returned to his station.

He remarked that it wasn't his fault she'd come in without warning him first.

It wouldn't be long before all the oxygen would be absorbed and she'd be on the upswing. Longer than if Kusy or Atryom were there instead, but not long enough for this fight to be over and the last thing he needed was a little kid trying to get his attention. Jason almost wished that Translator was there, too, then they could entertain each other, but they were probably with the adults and they had taken the rule of “stay put unless told otherwise” to heart. Unlike a certain someone.

Three layers of shields winked out in rapid succession. A chain laser? What were they thinking, wasting a laser charge when the ship was shielded? He sing-songed an insult against the enemy's intelligence and snickered when Knapp repeated him. Oh, man, if Lauren had any kids…

Hell, he was just lucky that Atryom found it as funny as he did. He didn't need to push it with her.

A low oxygen light turned on at the same time he got the third shield layer active again. He glanced back at Knapp to see if she was getting any livelier.

Nope.

She'd fallen asleep.

Her eyes were covered by one hand. Since she didn't breathe, the only visual way he could tell she was still alive was that her fingers and toes were twitching. That and the little noises on the comm. Jason didn't have the heart to tell Kusy that Knapp had inherited their tendency to snore, although Kusy was _much_ louder than Knapp.

Bovee announced that a missile was headed Jason's way with the same dissonant calm he used for everything.

Jason's stomach dropped into his feet. With a shout he ran and grabbed Knapp, shaking her awake. She grumbled at him, swatted at his hands. He felt the sting of new scratches but didn't give up. He had no idea how long they had, he didn't know if it would hit either of them directly and he had to at least keep her safe. How would he explain himself to Kusy and Atryom? Or if he got hit, even if it didn't kill him, she didn't need the trauma of seeing him seriously injured.

She squawked when he wrapped his arms around her and tried to pull her out. Small and skinny or not, she weighed a lot. But now she could see the fear in his eyes and feel how fast his breathing had gotten and thank God she went along now, embracing him and letting him pull her to the floor.

There couldn't be much time now. Without bothering to get to their feet first they rushed for the door. As much distance between them and the missile, the more the safer.

The computer chimed to let Jason know that the shield had been taken out. He didn't see the display long enough to consciously process it. He acted on it anyways.

He lunged for Knapp. They were at the doorway already was it too late-

They fell back as the missile punched through the hull mere feet in front of them. Jason's blood pounded in his ears, drowning out all sound. He felt sick, watching the missile streak through for what felt like forever.

Then there was Knapp, curled in his arms, grasping at his shirt. Was she crying? He couldn't tell. He ran his fingers between her eyes and the top of her head like he was petting a kitten.

He exhaled and a massive weight lifted off of him. In the distance he could hear Bovee apologize for a miscalculation, but right now that didn't matter.

He hugged Knapp and rested his cheek on her head. The respirator made it awkward but he just needed to know she was there. He knew he was crying now, he knew his tears were running down her head and he kind of wanted to say he was sorry but he couldn't get his vocal cords to work.

The heavy thump of metal on metal announced Atryom's arrival, though Jason only knew which Lanius it was when he found himself and Knapp enveloped by their scarred arms. Trying to squirm away was pointless. He didn't even look up.

The three stayed together until Knapp held onto Atryom instead. They left carrying her, stepping around the missile's breach and taking a left towards the engines.  
Jason stood, but when he got back to his station the only thing left of the enemy ship was scrap with a Rebel insignia.


	27. It Has Begun

They were surrounded. Thankfully, all the ships were Federation, and the few that still had weapons hot were powering them down one by one. Jason and Robert were wedged into the room by the cockpit alongside Atryom and Kusy. Bovee was talking away with the ship they'd contacted, stalling.

Kusy's head was under Atryom's, carefully removing the data chips from their shoulder. After each one came off Kusy pulled it into their mouth, scraping away the remaining tuhar, lest the chip be unusable.

Atryom rumbled when their partner finished the job, rolling their shoulders as Kusy stepped away.

Not long afterwards Bovee cracked the door open and held a hand out, the green glow of his screen illuminating his palm. Kusy transferred the chips from the mouth to their hand to Bovee's hand, prompting a disgusted blurring of his fingers. His hand dissolved into a cloud and flew inside the door, supporting the chips. Then Bovee shut the door hard.

The screen they usually used to communicate with Bovee switched its view. Jason and Robert squeezed in beside the Lanius to see a live feed of a boardroom, filled with decorated military officers and national leaders. Names appeared under their faces; Admiral Tully, General Turzil, Glorious Hivelady Zrakiraaanvik, Chairman Glizrin, King Broca, even a projection of Flock Devenha's Strike Leader Cryll.

The four crowded around the screen burst into chatter and equally nervous signing. Jason and Robert explained Admiral Tully's role in the Federation to the Lanius, who in turn told them that Flock Devenha was the single most well-armed flock around, and they had lots of allies.

Tully cleared his throat and the four stood at attention. (Well, three at first, but Atryom was quick to prod Kusy.) The screen split in half to show the data the Lanius had brought, the different areas the boardroom's members were examining highlighted in different colors.

Jason and Robert pushed their way to the front, speed-reading the data. One by one, those in the boardroom and then Jason and Robert stiffened, inhaled sharply, whatever their individual reactions to the data was.

Jason said it aloud first. He shouted, shocked, that they were supposed to face a _giant Rebel ship_? He and Robert turned to the Lanius, waiting for an explanation.

They got none. Turzil spoke next, stating that the Federation and Rebel fleets were spread thin as it was. Their ship (The Vortex, as Bovee supplied), would have to face this flagship alone. They would send in reinforcements when possible... But “when possible” was an unknown right now. There were few resources to spare, and those were disappearing with every advancement of the Rebel fleet, and every Federation or Federation-allied ship damaged.

Bovee acknowledged the dire situation and shut off communications, the engines already coming to life.

Once they were mid-jump, the four came to their senses enough to start panicking.

Jason and Robert hurried out of the room, Jason's face blanched and Robert's limbs scraping together. Atryom scraped the door, demanding that Bovee turn around and let them talk to the leaders one more time, they could have gotten the children to safety! Kusy, the same thoughts sinking in, wrapped their arms around Atryom's waist and rested their head on the gunner's back.

Bovee told Atryom that nowhere was safe anymore, and then the anti-intruder drone was in the room, too, safety off on its gun.

Atryom turned around to embrace Kusy, rocking side to side and glaring at the drone. After touching their forehead to Kusy's they held the engineer's hand and the two left for their posts.

Translator and Knapp were waiting and jumped up the moment the adults entered the room, grabbing at them and asking what was going on.

When the adults knelt down and held them close, both children knew something was wrong. Kusy's sad, scared warble confirmed it.

Bovee didn't call upon them for several jumps. The engines never went cold, and with every jump the engine room grew steadily warmer. Eventually the Lanius broke their embrace, but stayed together on the floor. Kusy and Atryom told the children what to do if both adults died. They were to stay with Jason, if possible, and be brought into a flock no matter what. There would be lots of Lanius ships around, both as allies of the Federation and as scavengers. In the best case scenario, they would come across a crew who spoke the same dialect as them, but they just needed to be amongst other Lanius.

They didn't dare to talk about the possibility that one of the children would die.

Finally Bovee announced that they were one jump away from the Rebel Flagship. Knapp stayed in the engine room with Kusy. Translator followed Atryom into the weapons control room. Splitting the four any way would be a risk, and they knew it.

The engines revved, and they jumped.

When they dared to look at their displays, Kusy and Atryom were met with a looming monster of a ship. It was painted vibrant orange and blue, and its weapons were hot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit for Chairman Glizrin goes to tumblr's draugrmemelord.


	28. Abdicate

Robert teleported moments before a trio of missiles rocked the ship. The doors shut and a red image appeared over them, indicating automatic operation was disabled. Translator squawked and scrabbled at the door. They pulled it open to see Knapp standing right in front of them, and the two chirped and babbled to each other in a dialect Translator had taught her .

One layer of shields reappeared just in time to block a beam. Jason cursed, asking just how many weapons this cursed ship had.

Three ion bursts answered his question, followed by three lasers.

It was then that Atryom decided that they did not like the number three. That number was not being good to them right now. Three could go burn in a sun right now, thank you, Rebels.

Atryom fired back. Ions, lasers, that was just enough to lower the shields enough for the Glaive Beam to rip through and damage their cockpit, shields, so much...  
Then their weapons lost power. The lights dimmed, they felt the engines change their tune. Another beam, the Anti-Bio beam, struck out at the Flagship.

Robert teleported back the instant the beam hit, a chime sounding throughout the ship as he materialized. Atryom felt Translator press into their side and rested a hand on their shoulder.

Their weapons powered on again, but the lights didn't come up. What was Bovee conserving power for? Atryom leaned back until they caught a glimpse of Kusy, who was hunched over their console in an attempt to get as much out of the engines as possible.

With a _thump_ from the engines, the ship dodged two laser shots, the shields absorbing the last. Checking the display showed that the weapons pod attached to the triple missile was damaged, and had not been repaired. Robert's work; Atryom had never targeted the missile pod.

They went after the beam instead, at Bovee's request. A chime accompanied the appearance of Robert's biosigns in the ion pod. Translator looked up to see where Robert had gone and asked why they were fighting such a big ship.

Atryom told them that the ship would let humans do bad things to everyone else.

Knapp spoke up, saying that they were going to win this time. They always won against the other ships.

The weapons lost power again while more laser shots took out most of the shields. Atryom stepped over to Knapp and scooped her up into a hug. She didn't know. Neither they nor Kusy told her, and they'd made everyone else aboard swear that it would be one of them who told her. “No time felt right” felt like a shallow excuse now.

She headbutted their jaw, and as they closed their eyes they saw the wreckage of the ship Knapp, drifting through space. But Knapp was a Lanius now, she was small and mobile and even if the Vortex was destroyed she'd be with her tiny little flock.

She squirmed, prompting Atryom to put her down so she could go and see if Kusy would give her more attention. Translator chirped and Atryom hugged them, too, and told them that they would win this battle. The Flagship would go down.

Bovee must have finished with the Anti-Bio Beam because Atryom's weapons came back on, humming with power.

The Flagship's shields had gone down and stayed down for longer than Atryom anticipated. They saw that the module was damaged; had Bovee killed everyone aboard? As soon as the lasers were charge they fired them into the shields anyways, made sure the line the Glaive Beam cut through the Flagship hit its med bay.  
The Flagship was ragged now, its pretty paint scarred by laser and beam marks. On the display, Bovee highlighted a weak point at a wing, now visible in the exposed machinery. Atryom needed no more information; they opened fire the moment they could.

Robert was teleported back just in time for the entire wing to break off, the space around it rippling as it vented oxygen. Everything went quiet, the wing drifting so, so, slowly. Atryom swore they could see every piece of scrap as it was flung away.

That was catastrophic damage. It was crippled, dying.

The flow of oxygen from the body of the ship stopped.

The Flagship flashed white, and it was gone.


	29. I'll Fight Forever

Jason starting screaming first. The human spat curses and Atryom could hear the echo of things being thrown around over the comm. They were next, startling Translator and Knapp with their own angry screech.

How dare it jump away? It was supposed to be dead, the galaxy saved from the Rebels! It lost a good third of its bulk! Bovee had fired the Anti-Bio Beam on it _twice_!

They snapped out of it when Translator huddled against their chest, curled into a defensive posture. Robert was hissing and making some noise that imitated Jason's screaming but definitely was more Mantis than human. Atryom went to rest a hand across Translator's back only to brush their neck, making them flinch away.  
But when they jumped, Translator took hold of Atryom's hand anyways.

Bovee warned then that they were following the Flagship. The less time between fights, the less time the Flagship had to prepare.

Nobody dared to mention that it didn't give them time, either.

They appeared far too close to the Flagship's damaged side for safety. Their shields crackled against each other, weakening both. The ship's grey, broken innards were in clear view. Atryom trained the weapons on what looked like the softest parts. They fired the lasers to clear the last of the shields, shot the Glaive Beam straight into the gaping wound as Bovee and Kusy worked together to back out of the ship's space. Right in time, too; it launched a defense drone that managed to get a single shot at them before they got out of range.

Four things fired from the Flagship. Three missiles, one small block of a form. How was the missile system back online?

Bovee warned them of an incoming boarder drone, adding that the anti-intruder drone ought to take care of it.

The boarder drone punched through the hull in the next room and the ship lilted to the side. Two missiles missed their marks as a result, but Atryom could feel the shockwave of a hit. The boarder forced its way into the room and fired twice in quick succession, sending Translator and Knapp running for Kusy.

No.

Atryom leapt onto the drone, scratching and impaling and biting. It struggled to fight back directly but its stray shots hit the consoles. With an angry hiss Atryom bit the “head” where its sensory cluster was, acid weakening the metal to the point they could worry the drone's head apart.

It jerked around, firing wildly. Atryom dug their fingers into its shoulder joints, hissing as its movements crushed them. They drove one knee, then the other, into its body. Electricity snapped at them, but one of the drone's arms went dead.

They heard an angry screech. Knapp charged in, ignoring a bullet that grazed her arm to strike at the drone with the same techniques Atryom had taught Robert.  
Who was Atryom to pass up a teaching moment? They wrenched one hand free, fingers partially flattened but still usable enough, and yanked at the drone's armor where its head had been until it was opened up enough they could stick their head in and tear out wires and computer chips by the mouthful.

The drone lost power before they could give Knapp a chance to do the same. Atryom freed their knees and other hand, letting the drone fall so they could turn their attention to Knapp.

She held out her injured arm, burbling at Atryom as they pulled one last wire out of their mouth before fixing the wound.

When Atryom let her go to examine the repairs, they noticed that it wasn't perfect. There was a small scar, one that may someday be reworked into obscurity but for now would serve as a reminder of the fight. Knapp turned her arm so she could look, too.

Atryom nuzzled her and called it a mark of bravery. That cheered her up and sent her running to go show Kusy.

They could deal with the fallout later. Atryom straightened up and returned to the console in time to see the flickering, black-barred charge display empty as Bovee fired the weapons.

An alert went off, the lights in the engine room flickering red for Kusy's benefit. A message appeared on the console saying that the Flagship had redirected a lot power to its drone system, like when Bovee used the Anti-Bio Beam except without loss of power anywhere else.

Jason cursed over the comms as out of the belly of the Flagship flew a swarm of drones. They headed straight for the Vortex, and as they got closer Atryom saw that they were a mix of laser and beam drones. Too many for the shields to hold off all at once, or to dodge every shot.

Bovee also identified another boarder drone and calculated that its trajectory would place it in the oxygen system. This time, he promised, the anti-intruder drone could fight it instead of the crew.

The drones surrounded the Vortex, one getting in the way of a laser shot that destroyed it instead of taking out a layer of shielding on the Flagship. The rest fired, only for most of the beam drones to waste their energy on shields they couldn't pierce before the laser drones could give them an opening.

Robert, healing in the med bay after he'd been brought back from the missile pod, laughed at them and said that the Rebels ought to learn to program better AIs.  
The drones left as quickly as they came, retreating back to the Flagship. Atryom shot the lasers at them, letting the ions take out the remaining shields so that the Glaive Beam could get to the remaining wing. If the first was a weak spot, this one ought to be, too. They had to be wrecking the hull integrity; by all rights the Flagship should fall apart after it lost its other wing and with this much damage to its body.

Bovee reported another boarding drone on its way. Jason snapped, asking how many drones this thing could possibly send their way, this was ridiculous, the Vortex was going to look like Swiss cheese before they finished the Flagship off.

His comm stayed on while the drone entered the shield room. Robert joined the fight with a berserker's scream. The Lanius sat back and listened as the two air-breathers fought off the drone, noisily and messily.

The engines shut off, and only the lasers remained online. The readout on Atryom's console warned them that the oxygen circulator was offline, too, and so were Bovee's beloved drones.

Bovee ordered Atryom to hold fire til his command. They waited, making fast repairs to the console and listening to Jason and Robert's cries of victory over the boarding drone.

The power surge alert blared again. The cries of victory turned into ones of surprise and fear. Atryom hastened in their work. This time, the drones may be better coordinated, they may cause serious damage.

Then Bovee gave the order and Atryom fired the lasers past the drone swarm and into the wing of the Flagship. At the same time, a beam traced its way through the ship.

The wing broke off and the drones went dead, hanging in space. Atryom's display showed no more life signs aboard the Flagship. Its crew was dead. Each and every single one of them. The ship was disabled, useless without its crew.

Bovee brought the engines online and flew the Vortex in to collect what resources they could.

That's when they got the transmission.

I AM FREED, boomed a synthesized voice, its words scrawling across every screen on the ship. YOU CANNOT HOLD ME AND MY ARMY BACK. GLORY TO THE NEW FEDERATION.

A green layer of shielding washed over the Flagship, and its remaining weapons lit up.


	30. You're My Dark Star

They got a moment's warning of a power surge before eight heavy lasers struck the Vortex. All the shields went out. Both the shield room and the med bay went red, Jason and Robert's shouts cut off, the comms to those rooms damaged. The remaining two shots hit empty rooms, warping the hull.

Bovee ordered Robert to the teleporter, injured or not. There was nobody aboard the ship, and as soon as they got the Zoltan shield down they needed someone on the inside.

Atryom didn't bother timing the Glaive Beam to hit directly after the lasers and ion. They fired each weapon as soon as it charged, aiming only to hit the shield in some way.

The Flagship fired three missiles, and as they watched the projectiles approach Atryom's insides twisted in dread. Triplet impacts rocked the ship, one too close much too close _that was the engine room._

Translator and Knapp stumbled into Atryom, chirping and crying at them. But they were still moving, they would be okay. Atryom needed to find Kusy. The thought of finding their partner dead, a hole blown through them and the remaining pieces scattered, never to be Kusy again…

Kusy made a quiet sound as Atryom embraced their shaking, but still intact, body. The missile's path almost entirely went through the hull opposite where the Lanius had been, scraping protective layers off of the engine's casing on the way. They held each other as Kusy's shaking subsided, never quite disappearing.  
First Knapp, then Translator, nudged their way in and made it a group hug. None of them were hurt, the adults noted, just scared.

Translator left with Atryom, leaving Knapp to accompany Kusy as they searched for pieces of the casing and clambered up the side of the engine to meld it back on. They didn't spend much time up there, the gaping holes the missile left serving as a reminder that disaster could strike at any moment. The Flagship was far less predictable than they had thought. Hoped.

The lights flashed red and Kusy jumped off of the engine, the force of the landing reverberating through their legs. They wasted no time in grabbing Knapp and shielding her between their body and the console. There was no way they could cover her completely and that knowledge _hurt_. All they could do was cover her was much as possible and hope the lasers hit somewhere other than the corner the Lanius inhabited.

The couple layers of shields that Jason had managed to bring back online went out. The cockpit got hit twice, the newly-fixed med bay went red again along with the oxygen. The other two shots hit empty rooms.

A message appeared on their console and the cockpit was encircled with bright green. HELP.

Kusy told Knapp to go stay with Atryom for a little bit. They ran to the cockpit as fast as they could, old scars and the joints on their fingers and leg aching with memory. How were they supposed to help Bovee? They couldn't heal the Engi, and they had never gotten a good look at the interior of the cockpit.

They knew to expect destruction when they entered through warped doors, but a small cloud of nanobots, half of them fallen dead on the floor along with the screen... scared them. Bovee had never, in their memory, given up his bipedal form.

A message appeared on Bovee's screen. Kusy understood “objective,” but little beyond that. They set to work, digging into the broken consoles and fixing what they could. They put wires, fans, even some things they couldn't identify back together. All the while nanobots swarmed around them, doing just as much work, maybe more. No wonder the Engi were so renowned for their engineering skills if they could do that. Even the thin points of Kusy's fingers felt large and clunky next to the silvery sheen of the nanobots coating things.

But then the nanobots started to fall. The rest flew off, streaming past Kusy out of the console and out of the cockpit entirely.

Kusy got up to check their work, fiddling with the controls and still-glitchy displays. Far from perfect, but it worked.

Something moved at the edge of their vision. More missiles, accompanied by the trio of lasers. Without giving it a second thought Kusy threw as many controls to an extreme as they could. Top, bottom, this one stayed put and this one needed constant force.

The view out the window lurched and spun on its side, faster and faster. Kusy didn't know what they had done but they had to hope it worked.

One missile skimmed the belly of the ship, ripping open the cargo bay and sending a rainbow of scrapped ship parts into space. Another hit the side, tearing through the hallway just behind Kusy. The other missed, but all the lasers hit ship head on, the one that wasn't absorbed by the shields damaging the drone bay.

Their own weapons fired, but the Flagship dodged all the lasers and enough ion bursts that the Glaive Beam did next to nothing to it.

Kusy couldn't do it. The Vortex was falling apart as it spun, its own pieces flying off alongside the scrap it spilled into space. They weren't going to win this battle.

And if the Vortex was going to be destroyed, Kusy was going down with their flock.

There was little oxygen left in the ship. Even when they ran through the med bay, brushing aside Robert and the last of Bovee, they barely felt anything.

A soft hand grabbed their metal one and they almost pulled Jason to the ground before they could stop, ready to shove him away so they could run. They were at the teleporter, so close to the weapons room.

The human's eyes were wet, shining trails running down his cheeks where they met his respirator. He held his hands up and signed sloppy, imperfect words, but Kusy knew them. He said he was going to miss everyone, and to thank Translator for the lessons, and that he was sorry.

Kusy didn't ask what he was sorry about. They responded with a quick affirmative, turned, and kept running.

Finally they reached the weapons control room and Atryom and Translator and Knapp. Both of the children were terrified, huddled together. Atryom was the opposite, only a hint of despair and frustration showing in flared spikes, but they were otherwise decidedly neutral.

Translator asked why everything was spinning outside.

Atryom must have spoken because both of the children wilted, holding onto each other all the tighter.

They could see the red warning light of the Flagship's power surge through the open door and the adults dove for the children.

But nothing hit. After a minute Atryom dared to look at their display, sat back down to report that the Flagship's Zoltan shield had come back up. And, though Kusy hadn't known, someone had tried to teleport immediately after the warning.

Jason, for sure. Maybe Robert if he had made it, or Bovee, though Kusy couldn't imagine the Engi abandoning his ship. There was no way to tell if they had gotten on board the Flagship before the shield went up. They could have made it, they could have been blocked, they could have gotten unlucky and had the shield come up in the little window of time before they were aboard.

As soon as Kusy and Translator had let go of her Knapp said she was going to check and see. She evaded a swipe from Atryom, trying to keep her with them, and ducked into the hallway.

Light flashed. The ship shuddered and broke into pieces.

Knapp stumbled back, collapsed.

Kusy knew they screamed. They could feel it. They fell to their knees by Knapp's side. The world faded away save for her.

Her chest, every little edge and part of its pattern, was blown open. Her innards mangled, the floor visible through her back.

Kusy couldn't keep their hands from shaking, so clumsy and useless as they pulled her into their lap. Her eyes looked wrong, and as she reached up her tiny little fingers fell apart, joint by joint. She tried to curl up and her legs came off at the knee.

They struggled to get the words to form. Kusy could only speak by what felt right, and nothing felt right. Nothing could feel right.

But they did it. They told her their love, and she nuzzled him in return.

Then she went still.

Kusy tried to hold her close, rock her.

A missile hit the room, throwing Kusy and Knapp and the two other masses that they hadn't noticed had clung to them out into space.

Atryom hooked their legs around Kusy's, staring down at Knapp's broken body. The missile's force had taken her lower arms and the rest of her legs. Even her abdomen was starting to come undone, the weave of the metal loosening.

Translator swung themself onto Atryom's back, peering over their shoulder for a moment before ducking down and curling their fingers into Atryom's chest.

Their cries were quiet compared to Kusy's keening.


	31. And Now You're Falling Away

Kusy refused to let go of Knapp. Atryom started trying to take her gently, nudging Kusy away only for them to hold on with twice as much fervor.

They tried talking next. Knapp was gone, pretending she wasn't would only bring pain. This was being cruel to themself.

...Couldn't they hold her, at least? Knapp was their baby, too.

Was.

That word threatened to break Atryom like the crumbling corpse in Kusy's arms. It felt like Translator, who shifted with every one of Atryom's movements, was the only thing holding them together.

Kusy didn't let go, but let Atryom lean in to touch Knapp's face, turn her head and its dead eyes. Their own eyes drifted to the massive wound in her chest and couldn't look away. Each little piece was a memory, hazy but vibrantly emotional. First the ship, its form and details already fading from their mind, then Lanius Knapp, her construction and her far too short life.

A life they could have _saved_!

Kusy yelped when Atryom dug their fingers into their own legs, piercing ten holes. They'd been so close to grabbing her, if they had acted faster she could still be alive, safe and sound and trying to wiggle away from the flock because she'd never been outside of a ship before!

She would have loved it.

Was. Would.

Too many words they needed to change now when they talked about her.

Kusy's fingers intertwined with their own, trying to pull them out of the holes in their legs. In anger Atryom dug in tighter and ripped ten long wounds from almost to their knees up to their hips. It hurt, it hurt, but this was physical pain, they knew how to deal with physical pain.

Atryom screeched at Kusy, knowing full well they couldn't hear it and Kusy _hated_ it when they knew they couldn't hear something Atryom said because Atryom was supposed to know better. Translator whimpered, curling up into a ball as much as they could while still holding on to Atryom.

After a moment Atryom turned over, their back facing Kusy but now they held Translator against their front. This couldn't be easy for them, either.

They tucked Translator's head under their chin. Fine. Kusy could hold on to Knapp. Atryom had Translator.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed before a ship passed overhead, blocking out the stars. It swung around, now on the same level as them. Its silver and blue markings reflected the starlight, revealing a distinct, sharp shape.

Its underside yawned open just in time to scoop them all into its brightly lit interior. All three of them shielded their eyes, taking a moment to adjust after having been in Bovee's dim ship for so long. Artificial gravity caught them and they thudded against the floor.

A Lanius who looked so similar to Kusy that Atryom and Translator had no doubt they had the same creators approached. This one was taller, sleeker than Kusy, though, and at least one of their creators was probably a different person. Atryom had heard about them.

Ryth didn't bother with signing a greeting before they knelt down beside their older sibling. Atryom moved out of the way, watched as Ryth stiffened at the sight of Knapp.

The two siblings had a short conversation. Ryth asked what had happened to this one, Kusy answered. Ryth asked if everyone else was okay, Kusy hesitated, but answered. Ryth asked if Atryom had a role in the dead one's creation, Kusy didn't need to answer.

Three more Lanius appeared, running over the moment they saw Kusy. Translator started rocking at Atryom's side, quietly repeating long-ago conversations.

Atryom stood, stared down at the other Lanius, and asked if this was Kusy's flock.

One of them chirred and asked if there were any other deaf long-rangers named Kusy whose flock would be looking for them.

Ryth and the other two Lanius must have convinced Kusy to let Knapp go, because all of a sudden it got noisy. Ryth started calling out to someone named Treyu who must have been the pilot, explaining the situation. Treyu called back an affirmative and said they'd be ready to go at Ryth's signal.

Atryom was no longer sure they were any readier to leave Knapp than Kusy was, but it was too late. They were being ushered to the edge of the open ship alongside Kusy.

Both had participated in funerals before. One of Atryom's creators had been dying when they were young, and passed away when they were an adolescent. Kusy had seen friends die before Atryom came into being.

Ryth told them that the other little one was right behind them and both Kusy and Atryom moved to make room for Translator between them. Kusy shifted Knapp's remnants so that Atryom could support part of her, and Translator could at least make the effort.

When all three said they were ready, Ryth called to Treyu and the ship started moving backwards. They let Knapp go, giving her a gentle push so it would be easier for her to clear the ship.

Then the door closed, and she was really, truly gone forever.

Forever.

That was a long time.

Atryom had to physically support Kusy as Ryth led them up to the main deck so they could find a place to stay, but they wanted to fall down in a heap, too, and refuse to move until they wasted away.

Ryth recognized that. As soon as they had found somewhere out of the way, they invited the three to sit with them. Kusy embraced their sibling and shook, crying.  
Atryom settled down next to them and let Translator curl up in their lap.

Kusy's flockmates trickled in one by one, alerted by the sound. They all knew Kusy and gave their condolences, or a hug, or a nuzzle. Some sat by Atryom and spoke to them; after repeating who they were a few times everyone seemed to know them and Translator. They just... accepted the two into the flock. One of the eldest Lanius, with plating piled up so that they looked like a vaguely Lanius-shaped fortress, cooed over Translator until the youngster huddled against Atryom, shy and embarrassed.

The ship stayed at the battle site long enough to gather the salvageable parts of the Vortex, then jumped to rejoin the rest of the flock.


	32. I've Found in You What Was Lost in Me

Months passed. The three stayed with Kusy's flock. Their flock, now; Translator didn't know the name of their original flock (and was unwilling to return anyways), and Atryom hadn't seen any sign of the one they came from. They weren't surprised. Flock Cretra was much less proactive than Flock Tsunya and wouldn't stray far from their territory.

Day by day they retreated further away from the bustling center of the galaxy. They dodged in to scavenge remnants of the war and the Rebel's – no, the New Federation now – slow extermination of the original Federation. At first, the New Federation ignored them, so long as they stuck to the dead and abandoned ships. But soon they were firing if the Lanius ships dared to get anywhere near theirs, even if they were clearly on the way to a wreckage. Then the New Federation was fighting them off at the beacons.

They fled through many different species' sectors. Translator became the most popular person aboard, facilitating diplomacy and letting the flock pass through unimpeded more often than not. They even helped negotiate an engineer's buying price when a Zoltan ship asked about studying their metal-shaping abilities.  
They'd spent hours curled up with Kusy afterwards, though. The other Lanius had taken to caring for Translator as much as they cared for any juvenile who'd been born into the flock, Translator always went to Kusy and Atryom when they were scared or stressed. Both of them knew about their past.

A trip through a Mantis-controlled sector gave the rest an idea of what had happened, seeing how Translator reacted. They never left Kusy's side, save for the times when Atryom was able to leave their post at the weapons to take care of Translator instead.

Kusy never said it, but they would have been more than happy spending the entire journey cuddling Translator. It was a bittersweet feeling. On one hand, they loved Translator dearly and spending time with them relieved so much of the pain that Kusy and Atryom had accepted as their new normal. On the other, it was impossible not to think of Knapp.

At first Kusy didn't know how Atryom managed to function when they themself felt like they'd been dropped into the thickest part of a nebula. But Atryom was only better at hiding it. That realization came when Ryth mentioned that they would have liked to meet Knapp after Kusy told them about her.

Atryom left without a word. It took Kusy twenty minutes to find them at the far end of the ship, the gouges in their legs opened up again. Atryom pushed them away at first when Kusy tried to close the wounds, only to give in when Kusy offered to leave them alone for a while.

As time passed it didn't feel any easier. They just adjusted. Sometimes Kusy found Atryom wandering around with new wounds, and sometimes Atryom found Kusy staring out a window, shaking and inconsolable. Sometimes Translator couldn't sleep, or one of the flockmates reported them to be obsessed with talking about death. But those incidents became further apart. By the time they were in the furthest Slug territories, they could care for the youngest children, the couple of them barely two months old and who had only known Flock Tsunya's flight from the New Federation, along with the one who was the same age Knapp would be, without being crushed with “what could have been”s.

They started finding more fellow Lanius than any other race. Many had done like Flock Tsunya and taken as much scrap as they could before retreating, but there were rumors abound that some flocks had already gone into hibernation. A few dared to suggest that this would be one of the shortest feast cycles on record, even including the one that came after the war between Mantis and humans, where only a few flocks had awoken.

By the time the flock had returned to their home territory and shooed out Flock Arcturus, who refused to take galactic rotation into account and often ended up trying to claim someone else's territory, most of their flockmates wanted to go back and gather more scrap, even if it meant fighting the New Federation.

Kusy and Atryom volunteered to scout out a path back. Just the two of them. They had done it before, and it would be easier managing of the small scavenging ships than a large cruiser.

The flock's leaders agreed. And so Kusy and Atryom said their goodbyes to the rest of the flock and made Translator promise to behave (they doubted the juvenile would get in trouble, but it was an excuse to talk to them), then took off.

They stayed in the nebulas as much as possible. Nobody but the Slugs liked being in nebulas, but if you knew where to look, there were plenty of dead ships and wreckages that had been lost. The scavenging ship didn't even have an internal sensor system for the nebula to disrupt.

It was good, being away from everything. For months, almost a full year now that they thought about it, there had always been other people. Just one, like Thomas or Bovee, could be too much sometimes. More than that... they needed a break, and it wasn't until they left that they knew how much they needed it.

Atryom was almost never at the weapons. They spent most of their time in the cockpit with Kusy. They'd initially claimed that it was to help them watch for signs of a wreckage, but they had given up that facade after the first few jumps. Atryom said they liked the quiet.

They jumped away from a beacon with two wrecked ships after marking its coordinates. It would be best to turn back soon and return to the flock to give a report on the sector before heading out to the next one.

It was beautiful. Peaceful. Clouds of color lazily drifting about, diffusing the light from nearby stars. There were no signs of any ships, wrecked or otherwise.

They spent far too long at that beacon, curled up next to each other as they watched the nebula dust swirl by.


End file.
